Master of Jiongu
by The Dark Dragon Emperor
Summary: In order to save Naruto's life, the Sandaime is forced to use a kinjutsu stolen by the Shodaime to help Naruto survive. Now with the incredible power of Jiongu on his side, Naruto is ready to shake up the ninja world and show his power. The only question, when does he start? Naru/Hina/Fu! Good Kurama! Severe Sakura Bashing! Mild Sasuke Bashing! May change to M rating
1. Chapter 1: Beginning of a Legend

Chapter 1: Beginning of a Legend

* * *

**Hello! The Dark Dragon Emperor here with a new story for you to read! This time it's a Naruto one! Isn't this gonna be exciting?**

**Okay, before we get started with this, let me tell you how I came up with this. I read a lot of Naruto fanfics, and I've seen ones where he gets the abilities of Akatsuki members. Like the Sharingan, Samehada, a connection to Jashin, but only ONE about him getting the Jiongu.**

**Now let me tell you, I like Kakuzu, and I think that the Jiongu is awesome. So, why not make a fanfiction about Naruto getting it? And give him the abilities we've seen Kakuzu use while he was fighting. Plus, I'll be making up a couple of abilities as we go, just to give it a little bit more...uniqueness.**

**Also, this is going to be a small harem of three people, Naruto, Hinata, and Fuu. Why you ask? Because, NaruHina is my NUMBER ONE FAVORITE PAIRING. And I like Fuu, she's my number two favorite Naruto female, and 7's always been my lucky number. And we don't have enough fanfictions where Fuu is in a pairing with Naruto.**

**I won't be putting the Japanese names for all of the jutsu performed, because I don't feel like typing in a language I won't understand. I will put the Japanese names for stuff like Shinra Tensei, Edo Tensei, Kuchiyose, and some others, but not everything.**

**There will be a lot of bashings in this story. Mostly to characters who I don't like to much.**

**Now that that's done, on with the show!**

* * *

(Konoha-Sandaime's Office)

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a tired man. He had retaken the position of Hokage only a year ago, after his successor, now predecessor, Minato Namikaze, died after the disaster that was the Kyuubi attack. Hiruzen sighed as he gazed at the picture of the blonde man. Why did he die when he had so much to live for?

He remembered the night clearly, he was sitting in his office writing in his journal while his wife, Biwako, Minato, and _his wife_ Kushina, were in a secret location so Kushina could give birth. Kushina was a Jinchuuriki, a container of one of the Nine Bijuu, of the Kyuubi. And when a female Jinchuuriki goes into labor, the energy holding their seal together weakens and the Bijuu has a chance to go free. Minato, being the expert seal master that he is, was in charge of holding the seal together while Kushina was giving birth, everything was set up perfectly.

However, something happened and the Kyuubi was freed. And it severly damaged the Village, and killed countless civilians and shinobi alike. Minato was able to take the Bijuu out of the village, and seal it away, inside his own son no less. Hiruzen was forced to witness the sealing as Minato put up a barrier around him, Kushina, Kyuubi, and their son, Naruto.

The Sandaime was confused as to why Minato felt that he had to do the sealing. He knew how to perform the Reaper Death Seal, all Minato would have to do would be putting the Eight Trigrams Seal, and he would be able to live with his family. But then again, he never did tell anyone that he could do the Reaper Death Seal now that he thinks about it.

When the barrier was lifted, Minato was already dead, the Reaper Death Seal, which summoned the Shinigami, had taken his soul as payment for the sealing, but Kushina was still hanging onto what little life remained within her. The Kyuubi had pierced both her and Minato when it attempted to strike Naruto and prevent itself from being sealed. Both parents had sacrificed themselves to protect their child. Kushina was able to tell Hiruzen Naruto's name, and that both she and Minato wanted him to protect their child. Both of them were dead with a smile on their faces.

Hiruzen knew that Jinchuuriki were treated harshly, but because Kushina's status as one was kept a tight secret, he didn't know HOW harshly.

The meeting that followed changed everything, for both him and Naruto.

* * *

(Flashback-Council Chambers-One Year Ago)

"THERE WILL BE ORDER IN THIS ROOM!" Hiruzen yelled as the chaotic sounds threatened to make everyone deaf. Especially from the civilian side.

Everyone was silent at the Sandaime's voice, not to mention the annoyed glare he was sending to people he KNEW would cause problems. A baby Naruto was in his arms as he, somehow, slept through the noise that was the council.

"Sandaime-sama! How can you expect us to be calm at a time like this?! We've only just survived a crisis!" a civilian member pointed out.

"I understand that you are all still nervous," Hiruzen said. "However, we will not be acting like children who were just let out for recess!"

"Where is Minato-sama?" Hiashi Hyuuga asked, pointing out the absence of their Yondaime. Everyone else had noticed this as well and began asking where he was.

Hiruzen let out a deep sigh and began, "Minato...has died sealing the Kyuubi."

"Sealing it where?" Shikaku Nara asked.

Hiruzen knew he was going to regret this, "Inside this little boy."

Almost immediately, the entire civilian side of the souncil erupted into chaos.

"It's the demon!"

"Kill it now before it's too late!"

"The Yondaime turned it into a baby so we could have our revenge!"

"SILENCE!" Hiruzen yelled, using chakra to make his voice louder than necessary. The civilians quieted down, but sent intense glares towards the baby. Naruto was able to feel the glares and shifted uncomfortably in Hiruzen's arms, his face twitching with fear. Seeing this, Hiruzen slowly rocked his arms in an attempt to soothe the baby. Naruto stopped squirming, but was still looking afraid. Hiruzen called over an ANBU with a Horse mask, and handed Naruto to him.

"This boy is Minato's legacy, he sealed the Kyuubi inside him so that he could use its power to defend Konoha. He is NOT the demon," Hiruzen said with a glare. Hiashi noticed something familiar about the boy, especially his blue eyes, and made a note to talk to the Sandaime later.

"Effective immediately, I shall be reinstated as the Hokage, and everything that has been said in this room about the Kyuubi is to be an S-Rank secret punishable by death," the Sandaime declared with a heated glare.

"DIE KYUUBI!" While everyone had their attention on the Sandiame's declaration, nobody noticed a civilian council member sneaking behind Horse and knocked him over, grabbed Naruto, and used the knife he had on him to attack Naruto. However, because of his shaking nerves, he cut Naruto from his right shoulder down to his hip, slicing the boy into two pieces.

Hiruzen was instantly upon the boy, using what little healing knowledge he had to try and help him. Uma had his kunai piercing the councilman's throat, killing him instantly. All while Naruto was crying loudly from the pain and from the red aura that was surrounding him. Instantly, the civilians began to panic.

"The demon's going to kill us all!"

"Finish it now you old fool!"

The Sandaime began barking orders, "Bird get everyone out of here, Hiashi, Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi stay! Rabbit, get me an available medic nin! Horse, make sure that we have no more attacks! GO!"

All three ANBU jumped into action. Bird shoved all of the uncooperative civilians out of the door while the clan heads went silently. Some of the civilians had to be threatened with the ANBU's tanto. Rabbit had jumped out of the window and raced towards the hospital, hoping that there was a medic available.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen was desperately trying to slow down the bleeding with the Mystic Palm Jutsu. While he was able to use it to a decent degree, he was only able to slow down the bleeding to a small amount.

"What can we do?" Choza Akimichi asked.

"Unless any of us knows a healing jutsu that is more powerful than what the Hokage's using, then there's nothing that can be done," Hiashi said.

"This is extremely troublesome," Shikaku said as he stood wide awake

"I'm afraid that you're right," Inoichi Yamanaka sighed as he looked away from the crying baby.

* * *

(Inside the Seal)

The Kyuubi was growling in frustration as it pushed its chakra through the seal into his container's body. His nine tails were waving around in a frenzied manner, showing his hidden nervousness.

**"Human stupidity will never cease to amaze me,"** Kyuubi growled as one of its tails began to slowly shrink.

**"That Hokage of theirs better come up with something soon, I don't know how long I will be able to do this," **he muttered as he continued to push chakra through the cage.

* * *

(Council Chamber)

"Hokage-sama," Rabbit said as he appeared back into the room. "There is no available medic, they are all treating victims of the Kyuubi attack."

The Hokage cursed as he continued working while sweat began to gather on his brow. He had used too much chakra during the attack and was starting to feel the strain.

"Horse, carry Naruto while I continue to heal him, everyone, come with us into my office. Rabbit, head back out into the village and try to find anymore survivors," the Hokage said while Horse carefully picked up the wailing boy. Rabbit bowed and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"And...please pick up his arm," he added. Inoichi decided to pick up the dismembered appendage since he's seen worse things in the minds of prisoners.

The party of seven slowly made their way to the Hokage's office. Choza opened the door and everyone entered.

"Hiashi, can you take over the healing while I get what may be able to save him? Horse, I want you to stand guard and make sure that NOBODY interupts us. I don't care if it's the Rikudou Sennin himself. Nobody enters." Hiruzen asked. Hiashi nodded and activated his Byakugan while using the healing jutsu his wife had taught him. While Horse handed the crying Naruto to Choza before he exited the room.

"Let's be thankful that Hitomi taught you a couple of her healing jutsu's," Shikaku said as he watched the healing. Hiashi just nodded as he kept concentrating.

Hiruzen walked towards the picture of the Shodaime, Hashirama Senju, and picked it off of the wall, revealing a small seal on the wall. He bit his thumb and made a few hand signs and smeared his blood on the wall. In a puff of smoke, came a medium sized scroll. He placed the scroll on his desk and began to unravel it, searching through the scroll desperately.

"Here it is!" Hiruzen shouted triumphantly while spreading more of the scroll out, revealing what appeared to be a sealing formula.

"What is it?" Shikaku asked as he looked at the scroll.

"The only thing that may be able to save Naruto," Hiruzen said. "Bring him over here."

Choza and Hiashi slowly walked over and placed Naruto on the desk, Inoichi placed his dismembered arm next to him.

"What I'm going to need of all of you is that you channel you chakra through Naruto when I activate this," Hiruzen said as he beckoned everyone around the boy. Hiashi was still healing him, but the injury was starting to get worse. The clan heads and the Hokage placed their hands around the boy and began molding their chakra.

_'Please forgive me Minato, but if I don't do this, Naruto will die!'_ Hiruzen apologized in his thoughts.

The Sandaime then made several hand sighs before ending on dragon and shouting, "Kinjutsu: Jiongu Transfer!"

The scroll began to glow, and hundreds of black tendrils erupted from the seal before they lunged towards Naruto and began to burrow their way inside his body. Everyone began to feel a drain on their chakra and saw that the tendrils were touching their hands while absorbing the chakra at a fast pace. Eventually, Hiruzen dropped down to one knee as he ran out of chakra to give. Following him was Shikaku, Inoichi, and Hiashi. Choza was able to hang on for a little while longer before he had to pull back, his face covered in sweat.

Everyone was forced to watch as Naruto was enveloped in red chakra that the tendrils were also absorbing. They were slowly turning a crimson color as the chakra was absorbed.

* * *

(Inside the Seal)

Even the Kyuubi was feeling the drain on its chakra as the tendrils began to nestlein Naruto's body. All that he had left was two tails worth of chakra

**"This...may be draining...but I can see the benefits that this will give the kit."** Kyuubi noted as he observed the changes going through Naruto's body.

**"It's done...but I'm going to have to sleep for a while because of this," **The chakra beast mumbled as he laid his head on his paws and began to close his eyes.

Before he closed his eyes, he thought, **_'I'm interested in seeing how this will play out in the future. I've got my eye on you_ kit."** With that, the Kyuubi closed his eyes and entered a well deserved rest.

* * *

(Outside)

Everyone was taking deep breaths as they tried to recover some of their chakra. They looked and saw that the tendrils had stopped moving through the boys body, but several of them were still wiggling out of the space where he was dismembered. The tendrils shot out and grabbed his arm before pulling it towards him and stitching the arm back to his body. The arm began to move around as Naruto began to use it normally. He was still crying due to all that happened.

"What...was that?" Inoichi asked as he shakily got to his feet.

Hiruzen used his desk to get up and said, "A kinjutsu that the Shodaime stole from Taki after they tried to assassinate him."

"What does it do?" Shikaku asked as he observed the now sleeping blond.

"It turns the person using it into a host for thread-like tendrils and gives them a wide range of abilities," the Hokage explained.

"What kind of abilities?" Shikaku inquired.

The Sandaime took a deep breath before starting, "It will allow Naruto to absorb the hearts of his enemies and gain their elemental affinity, plus the knowledge of whatever jutsu they might know. I'll have to look though the scroll for any more information."

"As if he didn't have enough of a burden already," Choza sighed as he pitied Naruto. It wasn't even two hours after his birth and already his life was being turned upsidedown.

"There is a question I have for you, Hokage-sama," Hiashi started.

"Yes? What is it Hiashi?" Hiruzen asked.

"Is this boy Minato and Kushina's child?" Hiashi asked. Hiruzen's eye's widened along with Choza's and Inoichi's. Shikaku just closed his eyes and muttered 'Troublesome' under his breath. The Sandaime reached under his desk and activated the Privacy Seals that closed off the room from anyone outside.

"How did you figure that out?" Hiruzen asked.

"Two things stood out to me," Hiashi began, "One, I noticed that Naruto had very distinctive blond color in his hair, and that his blue eyes were almost exactly like Minato's. And two, I knew Minato since he was my teammate, he would never ask anyone to give up their child if he was unable to give up his own."

Hiruzen sighed as he closed his eyes, "Yes, Kushina told me that this was their son, just moments before she moved on. She asked me to protect him to the best of my ability. However, I can't do too much without making it look like favoritism."

"He could enter one of our clans, after all, we were all friends with Minato and we would want to make sure that his son would be taken care of," Choza suggested.

"Unfortunately, I can't allow that," the Sandaime said.

"Why not? Don't you want the best for Minato's son?" Inoichi asked.

The Sandaime sighed, feeling his age as the years began to weigh down on his body. "I can't allow it because if I were to give one clan a Jinchuuriki, it would cause a shift in power and create a civil war over who would own Naruto."

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, even though we all want to help Naruto, we need to think about what would happen in the future," Shikaku stated.

"What about Kakashi? Shouldn't we tell him about who Naruto is?" Hiashi asked.

"No, think about it, he's already in a depression because he lost both his sensei and Kushina, if he tell him now, he'll fight tooth and nail just to claim ownership of him and practicly make him a target because all of the other villages will think that the Copy-Cat Ninja is training an apprentice," Shikaku said.

"When will he be told?" Choza asked.

"After he gets out of his depression, he'll be able to handle the situation better when he has a clear head," the Sandaime said.

"What can we do to help Naruto then? I don't want him to have to go through life without someone to properly help him. You know that those civilians won't keep quiet with the knews that he's the Jinchuuriki," Inoichi said.

Hiruzen put his hand to his chin and said, "You three have children, correct?" The Ino-Shika-Cho Trio nodded, "And you're wife is expecting in two months right?" Hiashi nodded his head. "Then you can push your children to become his friends, Kami knows that he'll need plenty of close friends throughout his life." All men nodded in agreement.

"Now I believe it's time we return for the night. Hiashi, could you send Hitomi to me tomorrow? I would like a woman's opinion on how Naruto should be cared for since I'll be taking care of him until the orphanage is repaired," Hiruzen said.

"Would you like me to tell her about what happened tonight?" Hiashi asked.

The Sandiame shook his head and said, "I'll take on that task, you all need your rest if you want to lead your clans through this crisis. I trust that you all know not to speak about the events that happened in this office? The only reason I'm trusting you with this information is because you were all Minato's closest friends."

"No Hokage-sama," all four men said. The Hokage then lifted the Privacy Seals and dismissed the men before he wrapped Naruto in a cloth and held him in his arms, slowly rocking him to sleep.

* * *

(Flashback End)

The Sandaime shook his head to get out of his remembering. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost 2:00.

_'Time to see how he's doing,'_ Hiruzen thought as he stood up. The date was October 10th, the Kyuubi Festival, or Naruto's birthday to those that cared. The Hokage left the Hokage Tower and walked towards the orpahnage that Naruto was placed in. He and the four clan heads were planning to spend the day with Naruto while he played with their children.

As Hiruzen walked into the orphanage, the caretaker immediately bowed to him.

"Hokage-sama! We weren't expecting you!" the woman said.

Hiruzen waved her off and said, "ITts fine, I was just stopping by to pick up someone. A Naruto Uzumaki?"

He didn't miss the flash of disgust that passed through the caretaker's face once his name was mentioned. She quickly put on a forced smile and lead the Hokage to a room where a small crib was. Inside the crib was a tiny baby with blond hair and blue eyes. Hiruzen noticed that he was unhealthily thin, and that there were faded bruises on his body.

"Why is he so thin? And covered in bruises?" The Hokage asked, already knowing that the woman would lie.

Hiruzen must have been a fortune teller, because the woman said, "He refuses to eat most of the food we give him, and the bruises are because he keeps bumbing into things when he crawls around."

"So you just let him crawl around unsupervised?" Hiruzen asked, raising an eyebrow to make it look like he was believing the tall-tale.

"Of course not, those are from when he gets out of his crib when he's supposed to be napping," the caretaker said as she believed that the Hokage believed her.

Hiruzen knew just how to do two things, make Naruto hapy and piss off the 'caretaker' that was _clearly_ doing her job to care for ALL children.

"Well, it looks like you're a little genius, aren't you Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen said as he picked up Naruto. The small baby just looked at him with a small hint of fear on his face, something that didn't escape the aged Hokage's eyes.

"Well, we better get going, there are some people expecting us," Hiruzen said as he took Naruto in his arms and left the orphanage, leaving behind a fuming caretaker. She was hoping that the Hokage would get angry at the boy for the lies that she was telling him, but she didn't know that a shinobi was trained to detect lies. Only a trained shinobi could truly hide the truth from the lies.

The Hokage then performed a Shunshin and appeared at the Akimichi compound where Naruto was welcomed openly. He walked into a large, small in Akimichi standards, dining room where waiting for him was the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and their children, and Hiashi, Hitomi, and Hinata Hyuuga were also present. All of the children were in a small play area surrounded by a fence.

Like his father, Shikamaru Nara was sleeping in a pile of stuffed animals. Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka were playing with some building blocks, a small smile on their faces. Hinata was just sitting by herself while playing with a small stuffed fox and monkey.

Hiruzen walked over to the children and placed Naruto in the play area, where he just nervously crawled over to the pile of stuffed animals and timidly picked up a stuffed from before hugging it gently.

All of the adults watched as Naruto moved to a far corner and continued to hug the frog like it was a shield. Hiruzen saw how he would look at the other children with some fear in his eyes. Obviously there was more going on in the orphanage than he was aware of.

"I've failed all three of them," Hiruzen softly whispered.

"What are you talking about Hokage-sama?" Inoichi asked.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "It appears that Naruto has had poor treatment in the orphanage. When I picked him up, he was very thin and there were bruises that were slowly healing."

"How can you allow them to continue doing this to him?" Hitomi demanded with a glare.

Hiruzen cringed at the woman's glare and said, "I've had all the civilians who attempted to assassinate him executed, but I can't do anything to the people who work in the orphanage because it's controlled by the civilian council."

"All we can do is make sure that he gets the bonds that he needs," Choza said.

"Hey, look at this," Shikaku said, lazily pointing at the play area. All the adults looked and saw what was happening.

Hinata had crawled over to Naruto and held out the stuffed fox for him to play with. Naruto looked at the fox before gently taking it. He then held out the stuffed frog for her to take, but Hinata just shook her head and gave him a small smile. Naruto then gave a small smile of his own before he started to play with Hinata.

"Kawaii!" Hitomi softly squeeled at the cute sight.

Hiruzen chuckled and turned towards Hiashi before asking, "Weren't you and Minato planning on a betrothal between your children?"

"Yes, but we were planning on going over the details after Naruto's birth since he had no free time to spare before hand," Hiashi said.

"Me and Kushina-chan supported it!" Hitomi said.

"Did you think that they would like each other?" Inoichi asked.

"Think? We knew that they would! Mother's intuition after all!" Hitomi declared proudly.

Shikaku sighed and said, "Troublesome, women just seem to know almost everything about their children."

"Well they did give birth to them," Choza pointed out.

"Has there been any changes with his Jiongu?" Hiashi asked.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "The stitching is still there, and some of the threads will wiggle out of his skin every once in a while, but there has been nothing else."

"Why doesn't the stitching go away?" Hitomi asked.

"It stays there because the Jiongu allows the user to extend their limbs where they are stitched together," Hiruzen explained.

"When do you plan on telling him about it? or the Kyuubi?" Inoichi asked.

"I think I'll tell him about Jiongu when he's either four or five. Of course, I'll have to come up with a cover story. He'll learn about the Fox and the real reason he got Jiongu when he's a Gennin," Hiruzen said.

"That seems like a good idea," Shikaku said. "Most clan children start training around that age so he'll be just like them. And he'll probably be mature enough to handle the knowledge that he's a Jinchuuriki when he's a Gennin. But, what if someone tells him about the Kyuubi beforehand?"

"We'll cross that bridge if it comes to that," Choza said.

"Choza's right, we shouldn't worry about that right now. We should be celebrating Naruto's birthday," Hiruzen said.

"You know, speaking of telling people things, what are we going to do about Kakashi?" Inoichi asked.

"He's still in depression. And it seems like he's taken a part of his lost team and made them as his own hobbies," Hitomi told him.

"Obito's chronic lateness and Sharingan," Choza said.

"Rin's concern for teammates," Shikaku said. "Though he's not as worrisome as she was."

"And Minato's love for Jiraiya's books, though he only reads the smut while Minato just read his adventure story," Hiruzen said. Inside he was crying,_ 'I can't believe I had to call his holy work smut!'_

Inoichi sighed and muttered, "At this rate, he'll never know about Naruto's heritage."

"Not unless we stick Naruto next to a picture of his father," Hitomi said.

"I believe it's time we bring out the food," Choza said as he clapped his hands. Several servants came out with dishes in their hands. They set the table for all of the adults and children. All of the adults picked up their children from the play area and placed them next to them. Naruto was sitting next to Hiruzen and stared at the food hungrily.

"I was right," Hiruzen muttered as he saw how hungry Naruto was.

GRRRRRR

"Choza!" Inoichi scolded.

"It wasn't me!" the Akimichi Head protested. Hitomi began to giggle behind her hand while Hiashi was fighting a smirk that was forming on his face.

"Something you'd like to share Hitomi?" Shikaku asked.

"That was Hinata's stomach!" Hitomi laughed. A few moments later, everyone was laughing at that little piece of information, though Hiashi was just chuckling.

"Now that I think about it," Inoichi began, "it's a good thing Minato was your teammate Hiashi."

"How so?" the Hyuuga Head asked.

"Back when we were in the Academy, you were as cold as your father was. When you trained with Minato, you began to open up more, not to mention you were starting to smile instead of just giving everyone either a cold glare or a arrogant smirk," Inoichi explained.

Hiashi sighed and said,"I still have to act like a cold bastard with a stick up my...arse around the Hyuuga Elders so they think I'm still 'the Hyuuga image of perfection' instead of how I am now."

"You must be an amazing actor then," Hiruzen said.

"Well Jiraiya-sensei did make me the inside man when we would perform an infiltration mission," Hiashi explained.

"Minato-kun WAS a horrible actor," Hitomi remarked. Everyone noded in agreement. Hiruzen looked down at his plate and saw that Naruto was practically inhaling whatever food he could reach.

"Choza, I think there's someone who could eat more than an Akimichi," Hiruzen said. Choza looked over and saw that Naruto was eating at a fast pace.

"Oh Hell no! I'm not losing my title of biggest eater to a baby of all things!" With that, Choza began to eat whatever food he could grab. Hitomi had to smack his hand away when he tried to grab a portion of Hinata's.

After several minutes of watching the two, Naruto was eventually defeated by the round man. The small blond yawned before he fell asleep in his chair.

"Oh Kami, he's going to eat everyone out of house and home!" Hitomi cried.

"Please, just wait until he's introduced to ramen, then we can worry," Shikaku pointed out.

"It's a cursed Uzumaki gene to love ramen," Hiruzen said. "It also doesn't help that Minato was a ramen addict himself."

So throughout the night, all of the adults talked about Minato and how they expected Naruto tobe just like him. Inoichi pointed out that the Uzumaki personality would always be the dominant thing in his life, making them shiver at the pranks he would perform in the future. They just hoped that they wouldn't be targets of any of them, though Hiashi said he wouldn't mind if he targeted the Hyuuga Elders for any of them. Later into the evening, Hiruzen received a message from a small green frog with violet markings.

"Ah, news from Jiraiya," Hiruzen announced. "He said that he's convinced Tsunade to come back to Konoha. But it willl take them about seven months because they are on the far side of Yuki and the boats are in need of repairs."

"Tsunade-sensei is coming back?" Hitomi asked, surprised.

"How did you convince her?" Shikaku asked.

"I had Jiraiya tell her about Naruto, and I decided to allow her idea of there being a medic nin on each team with her running the training program," Hiruzen said.

"When did you send Jiraiya after her?" Choza asked.

"It was a month after Naruto was born, he had heard about the attack and raced all the way here from Iwa. He made it here in two days."

"But it takes at least two months to get from Iwa to Konoha!" Inoichi yelled.

"Gamabunta," was all that Hiruzen said. Everyone nodded in understanding. They knew that the Toad Boss could cover great distances easily, especially if motivated with sake.

Later into the night, all the children had fallen asleep, so the adults bid each other goodbye and left to their respective homes. Hiruzen dropped Naruto off back in the orphanage and signaled his personal ANBU guard.

"Hokage-sama," Cat and Tiger knelt down before their leader.

"Make sure that nothing happens to Naruto tonight, if anyone comes after him, bring him directly to me," Hiruzen commanded.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," both ANBU said before they jumped back into the shadows.

Hiruzen let out a sigh as he adjusted The Hat and began walking to the Sarutobi compound. His thoughts directed towards the future.

* * *

**Whew! That was a little tough to write! I had to look up a lot to make sure that I got several facts right! Though, I did make a few interesting changes.**

**Since nobody knows who Minato's teammates were, I just changed a few things around and made Hiashi one of them.**

**I thought long and hard about how the Sandaime would give Naruto the Jiongu. I had a solid reason to do so, the only thing I had to wrack my brain for was Kinjutsu: Jiongu Transfer. I think that I was able to give it to Naruto in a believable way.**

**Next chapter is going to feature Naruto when he's four years old, he'll get his first heart for the Jiongu, besides his own, and Hiruzen will be forced to tell him the reson why he has Jiongu. Of course, it'll be the cover story.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2: First Heart

Chapter 2: First Heart

* * *

**Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter of Master of Jiongu! Last time was a large flashback about how Naruto got the Jiongu, and now he's going to get the first heart that'll be assimilated into his being.**

**Now sit back and enjoy the show!**

* * *

(Konoha-Four Years After Kyuubi Attack)

Naruto Uzumaki didn't live a good life. He was ignored by most of the kids his age, and hated by most of the adults. The only ones that didn't hate him were the Hokage, and the Ichiraku's who ran the ramen stand. He never understood what made him so unlikeable to many people. He tried to be nice to others, but they still ignored him. He used to think that it was because of the strange stitches on his side, but then realized that it would be stupid to hate someone because of that.

He learned that he would have to hide his sadness since he saw that people seemed to enjoy seeing him suffer. So he just gave everyone a big grin with closed eyes. He kept his eyes closed because he knew that no matter what he did, he couldn't hide the sadness that would show.

Currently, Naruto was on his way back to the orphanage after spending the day at Ichiraku. He ate as much ramen as possible without spending all his money. He snuck back in through a hole in his 'room' before covering it back up with a small rug. Naruto sighed as he climbed back into his rickety bed and closed his eyes.

However, before he could fall asleep, he was yanked out of bed by someone. He looked up and saw that it was the caretaker that was dragging him by his arm.

"Hey! Let me go!" Naruto cried as he started to struggle, only to get punched in the head by the woman.

"Shut up you little monster!" the nasty woman growled as she opened the door to the orpahnage. She then proceeded to throw Naruto into the cold winter night.

"You've overstayed your welcome here! Now leave and don't come back!" With that, she slammed the door in Naruto's face.

Naruto just sat there in shock, still processing what had just happened. When he realized that he was just kicked out of the orphanage. He stoodup and began to walk into the dark streets of Konoha.

The young Uzumaki kept to the alleyways since he knew that it would be a very bad idea to walk out in the open. He wanted to go to Ichiraku's but knew that they would be closed at this hour. He thought about going to the Hokage, however he decided that since he hasn't seen him in over a month that he was very busy.

Naruto eventually found a small cardboard box that was under an awning. Naruto decided to make it his new home. So the young boy crawled inside and curled himself into a tiny ball before falling asleep.

_'Tou-san, Kaa-chan, please help me...' _Were the last thought Naruto had before succumbing to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

(Hokage's Office)

_'Curse this damned paperwork! Where does it keep coming from? How the Hell did Minato get it done so fast?'_ Hiruzen thought as he went through each paper, trying to finish up quickly so he could try to go and see Naruto. He and the clan heads weren't able to make another meeting after the one where Naruto was only one year old.

_'Those damned council members on the civilian side are keeping me away from Naruto too much,'_ Hiruzen growled as he finished what he consdered the last paper for the evening. He sighed as he leaned back into his chair, thinking about how lonely Naruto might have been. He took out his crystal ball and used it to try and find Naruto. First he looked at his room in the orphanage, but it was surprisingly bare of everything.

"What?!" Hiruzen screamed as he shifted the view around the orphanage until he saw the caretaker throwing all of Naruto's stuff into a bonfire. Hiruzen growled as he desperately searched with his crystal ball for Naruto, the image kept changing to different places in Konoha, but couldn't find him.

"This is not good," The Sandaime said as he summoned and ANBU.

"Get me Hiashi Hyuuga, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka," Hiruzen ordered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the ANBU said as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Several minuted later, the aforementioned men walkedthrougn the door and saw that their leader was in distress.

"You called for us Hokage-sama?" Shikaku asked.

"Hai, I wish it was on better terms, but I have some grave news," Hiruzen said as he sighed.

"What is it?" Choza asked.

"Naruto's gone missing," Hiruzen said. That shocked all of the clan heads to the core.

"What happened?" Hiashi growled. He had already lost his brother earlier in the year, and maybe the respect of his nephew. He wasn't going to lose the only connection with his best friend!

"I suspect that he was kicked out of the orphanage tonight, but I haven't been able to locate him at all, and I've been looking through the crystal ball for the past half-hour," Hiruzen said.

"You know for a fact that Tsunade's going to thrash people for this when she gets back from that gambling fair," Choza said.

"Maybe we could blame it on Orochimaru, that'll take care of a problem for us," Shikaku muttered. They all shared a chuckle at that before turning serious again.

"Do you want us to go and try to find him?" Choza asked.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "You should just send out your most trusted clan members, or in Hiashi's case, most trusted Branch members. It would look too suspicious if you were to go out and look yourselves."

"Yeah, but we're going to leave Tsunade to you," Inoichi said as he and the other clan heads rushed out of the room before Hiruzen could protest.

_'I better start going over my will,'_ The Sandaime thought as he reached into his desk and pulled out a scroll.

"I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, hearby leave my entire Icha Icha Paradise collection to my son Asuma Sarutobi..."

* * *

(One Month Later)

Needless to say, Tsunade was royally pissed, and the Hokage didn't die. Though he was admitted to the hospital for a week after Tsunade put some strain on his old heart, and then making him completely better.

Naruto was found at this time. Tsunade was on another search for him when she heard crying coming from an alleyway. Inside the alley was everyone's favorite blonde **(Besides me) **crying in his sleep. Tsunade brought him to the Sandaime who, after managing to convince Naruto, got the young Uzumaki a small apartment. Tsunade wanted to adopt him, but that fell under the jurisdiction of the civilian council, who made it their life's mission to make Naruto's life a living Hell.

Currently, Naruto was in his bedroom asleep in his bed. His life had gotten somewhat better when the Hokage got him his appartment. It wasn't much, but it was more than he ever had. There were three rooms, his bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, all of them being something that he appreciated when he started living here.

Naruto woke up to the sunlight managing to find its way to his closed eyes. The young blond rubbed his eyes and slowly got out of bed. He mad his way to the bathroom where he procceeded to splash his face with cold water to effectively wake him up. He then went back into his bedroom and changed into his black shirt with a red spiral on it, and some forest green shorts.

"Ahh, I'm hungry," Naruto mumbled as he walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bowl, some cereal, and a gallon of milk. After having a filling breakfast, Naruto then went out to his balcony and took in the fresh air.

"What a nice day! I think I'm gonna go and see how Jiji's doing!" Naruto said as he ran back inside and put on his sandals before running out and locking the door behind him. Naruto then procceeded to run towards the Hokage Tower where he knew the Hokage would be, especially since it was almost 10:00 in the morning.

"I wonder if I can get him teach me some jutsu today?" Naruto wondered as he walked down the street. He continued on his way until he felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He started to look around and saw that the people were either ignoring his existance, or glaring at him with pure hatred. Naruto just put on a smile and continued walking down the street. Deep down, those glares did affect him, but he had no other idea of how else to deal with it.

However, today was going to change Naruto's life, as soon as he passed an alleyway, he was grabbed and pulled inside. Before he could scream out, he felt a pain on the back of his neck before everything went dark.

Sometime later, Naruto groggily opened his eyes and saw that he was in a forested area tied to a wooden post. He looked around frantically and tried to get free of his bonds.

"So you're awake," a voice said. Naruto turned his head to see a young man with black hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in a regular Chunin's attire and had nothing standing out.

"W-what do you want?" Naruto asked, afraid of what this man wanted from him.

"I want my revenge, you killed a lot of my friends and I'm gonna avenge them," the Chunin said as he stalked forward, kunai in hand.

"B-but I d-didn't kill anybody," Naruto protested as he struggled harder.

"Yes you did you demon!" the Chunin shouted, losing all of his composure, "You crushed hundreds of people with your paws and ate the remains! You almost destroyed the village and it people! I'm going to make sure that you never get the chance to do it again!"

"No! Please! I'm sorry!" Naruto cried as he struggled harder, starting to get extremely desperate. The Chunin wore a malicious grin on his face as he raised his kunai in the air, ready to stab Naruto with it.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly and felt a strange sensation in his right shoulder. He felt it rip apart painlessly and felt like a part of him was darting forward. He heard a gasp of pain and surprise before he opened his eyes and saw something that shocked him to the core.

The Chunin was standing over him with the kunai raised, but that wasn't what shocked him. Coming out of the Chunin's chest were several crimson tendrils that were squiggling around. Naruto looked and saw that they were coming from where his shoulder was ripped off. The stitching was missing and his shoulder was about a foot away from where the rest of his arm was.

"Demon..." the Chunin gasped as the tendrils started to move within him. Naruto stared in shock as something wrapped in the tendrils came out of the Chunin's chest while it was still...beating. The Chunin then fell to the floor dead, but Naruto didn't know that, yet. The object was then pulled into Naruto where his arm came back to the rest of his body.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Naruto screamed as the weight of what had happened finally settled into his mind. He let loose a chakra pulse that covered the whole village.

* * *

(Hokage's Office)

"You should really make some law about Jiraiya's peeping habits," a blond haired woman with a green coat and grey clothing said. She had her hair in two pigtails and had her arms crossed underneath her impressive bust. She gave an annoyed stare into the Sandaime's eyes with her honey colored ones.

"I'd would love to Tsunade, but Jiraiya's books make a lot of money. Money that he uses to supply his spy network and himself. He also sends whatever he can spare to Konoha to help with our economy," Hiruzen said as he sighed.

Tsunade huffed and said, "Why couldn't he have just sticked to writing adventure stories? That first one was good even if it wasn't a bestseller."

Before Hiruzen could reply, the chakra pulse reached his office. Both his and Tsunade's eyes widened as they recognized who the chakra belonged to.

"Weasel, Mantis!" The Sandaime called out. Two ANBU in the aforementioned masks appeared before their Hokage and waited for his orders.

"Follow us and make sure that there are no interruptions!" Hiruzen ordered as he jumped out of his seat and lept out the window, Tsunade following him in a heartbeat. Both ANBU jumped after them and tried to keep up.

When they reached the source of the chakra pulse, Hiruzen's eyes widened and Tsunade gasped. Beofre them was a crying Naruto, still tied up to the post, and a dead Chunin at his feet.

"Mantis, make sure that we aren't interupted. Weasel, stay for a moment," the Sandaime ordered. Mantis vanished into the treetops and kept an watchful eye on the surrounding area.

Hiruzen then Shunshin'd over to Naruto and cut the ropes holding him in place. Tsunade rushed over to him and hugged him tightly as he cried into her shoulder. Tsunade began whispering comforting words into his ear until he cried himself to sleep.

"Weasel, do you know who this is?" Hiruzen asked as he turned over the body of the dead Chunin.

"Daichi Uchiha, not a member who stands out, but not weak either," Weasel said after taking a good look at the Chunin.

Hiruzen sighed and called Tsunade over, Naruto still clutching to her in his sleep. "Can you see if he still has his heart?"

Tsunade used her free hand to run a diagnostic jutsu on the body before pulling away. "No, his heart's not there. All of the viens connecting to it have been cleanly severed.

"Now I want you to check Naruto, I think that his Jiongu has activated," Hiruzen said. Tsunade nodded and started to check Naruto. After a couple minutes, she stopped the jutsu and faced the Sandaime.

"The threads are moving eratically, trying to move the stolen heart to an area in Naruto's body where it will cause little discomfort," Tsunade explained.

The Sandaime sighed and said, "Bring him back to my office. Weasel, you go and summon Hiashi Hyuuga and Inoichi Yamanaka to my office. Mantis," the ANBU appeared before him, "if anyone asks about what happened, tell them that a new way to dispel Genjutsu was being tested out before it went out. Speak nothing about what really happened here." the ANBU nodded before they disappeared again. The remaining two conscious people then lept for the Hokage's office.

After five minutes of waiting, Hiashi and Inoichi walked in with Weasel behind them. Weasel shut the door just as Hiruzen activated the Privacy Seals.

Upon seeing Naruto clutching to Tsunade, Hiashi asked, "What happened?"

"Daichi Uchiha atempted to kill Naruto after abducting him," Hiruzen started before both clan heads let out a blast of KI.

"Where is the bastard?! I'll he'll be brain dead when I'm through with him!" Inoichi yelled.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "He's dead, Naruto's Jiongu activated and stole his still beating heart."

Hiashi was confused, "Wouldn't his Sharingan warn him of any attack?"

"I suspect that he didn't have it activated, Daichi only used his Sharingan on foes who he considered worthy," Weasel explained.

"A stroke of luck then," Hiashi said.

"I suppose that Naruto is in shock because he saw the heart being stolen?" Inoichi asked.

Hiruzen nodded and said, "Yes, I want you to enter his mind and try to help him get over it. He should never have to go through this at such a young age."

Inoichi nodded and made a few hand seals before placing his hand on Naruto's forhead and closing his eyes.

* * *

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Inoichi opened his eyes and saw that he was standing in what appeared to be a dimly lit sewer.

_'This isn't as bad as I thought it would be,__'_ the Yamanaka Head thought as he looked around. The appearance of Naruto's mind was a little disturbing to him though since it reflected how Naruto felt. His own mind was a nice and peaceful forest, and his daughter Ino's was a field of flowers. Naruto's mind only showed that he was lonely and depressed. Inoichi then decided to walk deeper into Naruto's mind in order to find him.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, he reached a giant cage that had a piece of paper on it with the kanji for 'seal' on it.

_'Is this what I think it is?'_ Inoichi thought as he peered inside. He was met with a giant red eye that lazily stared at him.

**"Hmm? You're not my jailor,"** A booming voice said as Inoichi realized what he was seeing.

"K-Kyuubi," Inoichi gasped as he saw the Bijuu fully illuminated behind the cage. The only thing that confused him was the fact that he only had five tails and what appeared to be the stump of a sixth.

**"I know what you're wondering, 'what happened to my tails?, right?" **Kyuubi asked, to which Inoichi just dumbly nodded. **"Remember the night I attacked? When your Hokage used that Kinjutsu to save the boy, it drew upon my chakra when you and your allies ran out. Let me tell you, I was left with two tails worth of chakra."**

"Why are you being so civil with me?" Inoichi asked.

Kyuubi snorted and said, **"Because right now, you're the only one who can make sure that my jailor doesn't become a brain dead idiot. If you want to find him, he's down that hallway." **Kyuubi pointed a claw in the direction Naruto's consciousness had retreated to.

"Thank you," Inoichi said as he began walking down the hallway. The Kyuubi said nothing as he watched the Yamanaka go to help his Jinchuuriki.

Inoichi walked down the white hallway until he reached a door. Seeing that it was the only way to go, he opened the door and was blinded by a bright light. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was at one of the training grounds.

"This must be where Naruto was taken to before," Inoichi mused as he walked and saw the events that happened when Naruto was abducted. Inoichi was then blinded by a bright light before he saw that the events were repeating themselves over and over again.

Having enough of this, the Yamanaka Head walked towards Naruto and cut the ropes holding him in place, stopping the memory.

"W-who are yo-you?" Naruto asked, shivering in fear.

Inoichi, seeing how frightened he was, knelt down in front of him and gave him a friendly smile, "My name is Inoichi Yamanaka, and I came into your mind to help you."

"M-me?" Naruto was confused, this stranger wanted to help him. Most strangers just hated him for no reason at all.

"Yes, I understand that you are feeling very scared right now," Inoichi said.

"I-I k-k-killed so-someone," Naruto said as he began shaking again.

Inoichi sighed and said, "Yes you did, and you're never going to get over it. But you have to understand, if you didn't defend youself, you would have been either seriously hurt or dead."

Naruto stared at him in shock as he continued, "People...never get over their first kill, but you have to find a way to move on. People make hobbies to try and do it. A person I know is always late to any meeting, do you know why?" Naruto shook his head. "Because that's how he copes with his problems."

"I th-think I-I understand w-w-what you're saying," Naruto said.

Inoichi smiled and said, "Good, now how about we go back to the real world. The Hokage's very worried about you. And I know you have some questiones for him." Naruto nodded and Inoichi placed his hand on his forhead and both of them closed their eyes.

* * *

(Sandaime's Office)

Both of the male blonds opened their eyes to see that they were back in the Hokage's Office. Naruto looked and saw Hiruzen speaking with the blond woman that found him when he was alone, a person with white eyes, and a teenager in a mask.

"We're gone for five minutes and you forget about us already?" Inoichi asked as he gained the attention of everyone in the room.

"Naruto-kun!" Hiruzen shouted as he appeared next to his surrogate grandson.

"Hi Jiji!" Naruto said as he gave the old man a hug. He then released the Hokage and saw that the blond woman before she scooped him up in a bone-crushing hug.

"You're alright!" the woman cried as she continued to smother Naruto.

"Breathing..." Naruto gasped out as his face turned blue. The woman realized that she was choking him and quickly let go. Naruto took a deep breath and got his breathing back under control.

"Hi pretty lady! I'm sorry I don't know your name," Naruto said.

Tsunade chuckled and said, "My name's Tsunade, don't you remember me? I was the one who found you when you were living in the alleyway."

Naruto scrunched up his face in thought for a moment before saying, "I think I remember you, you look familiar. Thank you for helping me get a home!"

"Naruto," Hiruzen started, "do you want to talk about what happened earlier."

Hearing this, Naruto's face fell, "Yeah, w-what were those things coming out of my arm?"

Hiruzen sighed and said, "To explain it clearly, I would have to talk about the day of your birth. We had just survived the Kyuubi attack and were recovering. We had discovered an enemy spy who was attempting to leave Konoha with the information that we were at our weakest. We had him on the run before he picked you up from one of my shinobi who was taking you to the hospital and used you as a hostage."

"We had confronted him and made a deal, you would be released and the ninja would go free. However, he had sliced you where your stitching was before dropping you and attempting to flee, but an ANBU was able to kill him. In order to save you, I was forced to use a kinjutst that the Shodaime stole from Takigakure whe they attempted to assassinate him."

"What kind of jutsu?" Naruto asked.

"It's known as Jiongu, it makes you the host of thread-like tendrils and gives you a wide range of powerful abilities," Hiruzen said.

"So when I become a ninja, I'll be a super ninja?" Naruto asked, sparkles in his eyes.

Everyone, except Weasel, chuckled at his statement. Hiruzen said, "Well, you'll be a strong ninja. Just think of yourself as someone who holds a unique Kekkei Genkai."

"So what can I do with Jio..Jin...whatever it's called?" Naruto asked.

"It's called Jiongu. Ji-on-gu. And you can do whatever you want with the tendrils since they respond to either your will, or they can act automatically when you're in danger," Hiruzen said.

"Wow! Can it do anything else?" Naruto was bouncing on his feet now.

The Sandaime sighed and said, "There's one more thing that was listed in the scroll, but I don't know if you'll like it."

"Why not? Is it really bad?" Naruto asked, getting a little scared now.

"No, it's just that you might be disturbed by this," Hiruzen said before explaining the last part of Jiongu. "You can take the hearts of your enemies and steal all of their abilities and elemental nature."

"Like I did before?" Naruto whispered.

"Yes, but this part of the ability has a positive effect for you," Hiruzen said. Naruto looked at him in confusion, what would be good about taking people's hearts?

"By stealing people's hearts, you can become like a cat, meaning that you will have multiple lives," Hiruzen explained.

"So...I could still live even if I die?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but you will have to sacrifice a heart in the process. So you will want to be careful and try not to lose all your hearts," Hiruzen said.

Naruto then looked at him and smiled, "So can you teach me how to use it?"

Hiruzen smiled at Naruto's attitude and said, "Of course, that was what I wanted to do after I told you about this. And these people in the room are going to help you today."

Naruto turned and saw Hiashi observing him before he jumped behind Tsunade and screamed, "AAHH! It's another man with scary white eyes!"

_'Another?'_ Was the thought that went through tha heads of most of the rooms occupants.

"Naruto, when did you see someone with 'scary white eyes'?" Hiruzen asked, sending an apologetic look at Hiashi who waved it off.

"It was when I went to the park last week," Naruto started, "Ayame-nee-chan was sick so Ichiraku's was closed for the day. I turned the corner and bumped into a man with those eyes. He demand that I apologize and when I said that he was the one who bumped me, he poked me in the arm and I couldn't move it. I went to yell at him and his eyes grew BIG and he glared at me before I ran back home."

"Well, it seems like Naruto didn't have a good first meeting with the Hyuuga Clan," Inoichi said.

Hiashi sighed and knelt down to Naruto's level. "I hold no ill will against you Uzumaki-san, I can understand that members of my clan can be...difficult at times. I will take care of the issue when I find out who it was that attacked you."

Naruto stared at Hiashi for a moment before saying, "Okay. But I have a question, how are you going to help me with my Jiongu?"

"My clan possesses a Kekkei Genkai called the Byakugan, it allows us to see a persons chakra network and it lets us see far away and through objects," Hiashi explained.

"What about him?" Naruto asked, pointing at Weasel.

"You may remove your mask," the Sandaime said. Weasel reached up and took his mask off,revealing himself the the group. He had dark eyes like Daichi and had lines running down the bridge of his nose.

"This is Itachi Uchiha, a prodigy of the Uchiha clan," Hiruzen said.

"So he's going to use his Sharingan?" Tsunade asked.

"What's that?" Naruto asked as he listened.

Hiruzen turned to the young blond and said, "The Sharingan, like the Byakugan, is a Kekkei Genkai that is associated with the eyes. It allows the user to see chakra, cast powerful Genjutsus, and predict someones movements. A more noticable feature of the Sharingan is that it can copy any ninjutsu it sees, as long as it isn't associated with anyone else's Kekkei Genkai."

"That sounds almost as cool as Jiongu!" Naruto said.

"Almost?" Itachi raised an eyebrow at this.

"Well, if I took the heart of someone who had justu that you can't copy, that would make me better than you, right?" Naruto asked. Everyone was shocked, he had figured out the one thing that he could do that the Sharingan couldn't!

Itachi chuckled and said, "Yes, that would make you better than me."

"Now let's get started. Naruto, come here," Hiruzen said, beckoning Naruto to him. Naruto jogged over and stood before the Hokage.

"First, we're going to have you access your chakra," Hiruzen started as Hiashi and Itachi activated their Byakugan/Sharingan to observe the blond Jinchuuriki.

"How do I do that?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen thought of the best way to word it for the boy. "Do you feel a...warm feeling in your gut?" Naruto nodded. "You need to try to grab that feeling and pull it to the surface. Try to make it flow through you. It becomes easier if you put your hands into this seal." He showed Naruto the Ram seal.

After correcting his mistakes in making the seal, Naruto attempted to draw out his chakra. He felt that warm feeling like the Hokage said and tried to pull it to the surface. The problem was that because he was a Jinchuuriki, he had FAR more chakra than a normal person his age, so it was like pulling a boulder out of a hole meant for a pebble.

_'Come out already!'_ Naruto growled as he pulled harder. Surprisingly, that thought somehow made Naruto able to drag his chakra to the surface. When he finally got it out. Hiashi and Itachi had to turn off their Doujutsu because they weren't expecting there to be so much chakra.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade asked as she saw both males rub their eyes.

"Ugh, I wasn't expecting so much chakra. It mearly disoriented me for a moment," Hiashi said.

"As am I," Itachi said as he blinked rapidly to get the spots out of his vision.

"Uh, sorry?" Naruto said, uncertain of what to do.

"There's no need for apologies Naruto-san," Itachi said.

"Indeed, we just didn't expect you to have so much chakra," Hiashi put his two cents in.

"Is that a good thing?" Naruto asked.

"It's a very good thing, a ninja who has more chakra is able to perform more jutsu, maybe more powerful ones," Hiruzen said.

"HA! I knew I was awesome!" Naruto cheered.

_'It's Kushina with Minato's looks,'_ were the thoughts of everyone except Itachi. Once Naruto calmed down, Hiruzen then tried to get him to do the next lesson.

"Now that you've got access to your chakra, we should try to get you to control your Jiongu to some degree," Hiruzen said. "But I don't think that it would be a good idea to try it here."

"Why not? I'm ready to go!" Naruto declared.

Hiruzen chuckled at the blond's enthusiasm and said, "That's why we have training grounds. Tsunade, can you take over trying to get his Jiongu activated? I'm afraid I can't since I'm behind on my..._work._" Hiruzen glared at the pile of paperwork that was mocking him with its height.

Tsunade sighed and said, "Alright sensei, I'll tell you about our progress later. You men follow me to Training Ground 27!" She then grabbed Naruto's shoulder and vanished in a Shunshin. The rest of them followed, leaving Hiruzen alone.

He then pulled out a little orange book and flipped it to a certain page before giggling pervertedly. "Oh Kanoko-chan, you're so dirty."

* * *

(Training Ground 27)

Tsunade appeared in a puff of smoke with a stumbling Naruto.

"Ohh, I think I'm gonna be sick...Urp!" Naruto ran over to a bush where he proceeded to introduce the shrub to his eaten breakfast.

Tsunade sweatdropped and thought, _'Maybe I should have just jumped here instead.'_ "You alright gaki?"

"Y-yeah, that was just...uncomfortable," Naruto said as he leaned on a tree for support.

"I remember when Jiraiya-sensei taught us the Shunshin. Minato was the only one who was able to keep his lunch down the longest," Hiashi said as he and the other appeared behind Tsunade.

"So how am I gonna do this?" Naruto said as he recovered.

"Well," Tsunade started as she pulled out a small scroll, opened it, and began to read from it, "first you have to gain control of the tendrils that are in your body. So just close your eyes and try to feel them as they move throughout you."

Naruto did as instructed and after a few minutes of concentrating, he opened his eyes and voiced his frustrations.

"I can't feel anything. It's just not there," Naruto complained.

"Try fluctuating your chakra," Itachi said as he activated his Sharingan. Naruto just gave him a funny look, not understanding what he wanted him to do.

Itachi, realizing his mistake, said, "What I want you to do is...make your chakra move around wildly to try and get a reaction out of the Jiongu."

Naruto nodded his head and closed his eyes, this time he made his chakra move around in an eratic manner before he felt it start to move to his right forearm. His arm then felt a little numb and heard a few gasps. He opened his eyes to see that several tendrils were moving in and out of his forearm without leaving any sort of mark that they had emerged when they went back in.

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted as he saw his progress.

"I didn't expect him to do it so quickly," Inoichi said.

_'He's just like Minato, able to get the gist of any technique in only a few tries,'_ Hiashi thought as he watched Naruto make his tendrils dance through the air, making shapes or animals.

"I think I've got the hang of this!" Naruto said.

"Well, you can use what sensei wrote down as the basic control," Tsunade said as she read the scroll. "When you have a better control over it and are a little older, you can start on some of the complicated stuff."

"Aww, I want to work on it now!" Naruto whined.

_'Yet, he's got Kushina's attitude. Always wanting to do the hard stuff right away,'_ Hiashi thought, silently chuckling to himself.

"I think that you've done enough work for today, now how about I treat you to some ramen?" Tsunade said the magic words.

"RAMEN!" Naruto yelled as he clung to Tsunade's leg. "To Ichiraku's!"

"Alright! Just get off!" Tsunade yelled.

* * *

**I am finished! What a chapter! Don't you think that this one was good?**

**Now Naruto's starting his training with the Jiongu, and he got his first heart. Since it was an Uchiha, I don't think I need to tell you what element it was, if I do need to tell you, than you're not a real Naruto fan. Shame on you.**

**About Tsunade, this is my story, so I decided to have her and Shizune, even though we haven't seen the latter yet, return to the village earlier. I thought that it would make things a lot more interesting in the future.**

**Next chapter is gonna be a short timeskip, about a year, and we're gonna introduce everyone's favorite character-**

**Lighteron: Me!**

**What the f !# are you doing here?! You're supposed to be reviewing your script for KHIII! We've got a chapter coming up!**

**Lighteron: I thought I should come over and see how everything's going.**

**Get back to your own studio! We're busy making the next script.**

**Sorry about that. Anyway, as I said, everyone's favorite character is coming next chapter. Hinata! Yes, the Hyuuga heiress is going to make a formal appearance in this story. So be paient!**

**Please review! ****Ciao!**


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting the Princess

Chapter 3: Meeting the Princess

* * *

**Yo! How's everyone today? You good? Cause I'm in a really good mood.**

**Before we start I woud like to ask all of my fans something. Where the Hell did you all come from?! Not that I don't love all the attention, but really! Not even twelve hours and I have over 700 views and countless followers and favorites! That's more than a new chapter of KHIII gets in two hours!**

**Now that we've gotten Naruto a heart, he's been training his ass off for the past year. So he'll be stronger than he was in canon. After all, that is how we writers make him right? He deserves a lot more than what he got, especially since he's the only thing that was keeping Konoha safe from an angry Kitsune.**

**As I said before, Hinata's coming! I know, I know, we saw her in chapter 1, but really, can I really introduce a character, especially as a baby? No, of course not, you need to see a character when they are able to speak. That is how you really introduce someone.**

**Enough with my rambling. Let's get this party started!**

* * *

(Konoha-Five Years After Kyuubi Attack)

Naruto sighed as he leaned against the tree he was using as a target. The bark was littered with slash marks and punctures, like a bunch of other trees that were in the area. He was working hard mastering his Jiongu and making new ways to fight with it. He had made a bunch of new attacks to use, especially with his new ability.

He remembered when the Hokage helped him learn this new part of the Jiongu...

* * *

(Flashback-Three Months Ago)

"Ah, Naruto-kun, I was expecting you," Hiruzen said as he saw the blond walk inside.

"You were?" Naruto asked as he entered.

Hiruzen smiled and said, "Yes, I was wondering if you would like to learn another ability of the Jiongu."

"Don't you know me by now Jiji? Of course I want to learn a new ability!" Naruto shouted as he practically bounced off the walls.

Hiruzen chuckled and said, "Excellent, we'll leave for my personal training area in a few minutes."

"Why? Why don't we just go now?" Naruto asked.

"I've been signing a lot of papers today and my hands are a little numb. I would like to have some feeling in them before we start training," Hiruzen said as he glared at the pile of finished paperwork.

"Okay, there was something I had to tell you anyway," Naruto said as he took a seat.

"What is it?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto pulled back the sleave of his right arm and showed the Sandaime that there was stitching in the middle of his forearm.

"What happened?" Hiruzen asked, thinking that Naruto was attacked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and explained, "Well, I was thinking about the abilities of my Jiongu and remembered that I could extend my limbs at the stitching. So I was thinking that it would be really cool if I could shoot my arm out at someone. When I tried to do it with my original stitching, it felt really uncomfortable. But then I felt my arm getting tingly and saw that this was happening."

"Incredible, I thought that you had to be cut for thta process to happen," Hiruzen said. "Can you make it go back to normal? I mean, can you make that arm normally attatched without the stitching?"

"Yeah, but it takes a lot of focus and makes me really tired when I do that, so I decided to leave it there and only take it away when I'm on vacation or something," Naruto said.

_'It's probably his Uzumaki genes or the Kyuubi,'_ the Sandaime thought. _'The scroll didn't say anything about this sort of thing.'_

"Naruto," Hiruzen began, "you never cease to amaze me. Let's go, this technique is something that I know you're gonna love." Hiruzen then led Naruto to the Hokage's personal training grounds, which was in a cave behind the tower underneath the Hokage Monument. There was a waterfall inside the cave and an area filled with weaponry.

"Wow!" Naruto shouted as he saw the training field.

"Indeed it is very impressive," Hiruzen said. "The Shodaime and Nidaime created this training field for all Hokage's and their personal apprentices to use."

"Does this mean that the Yondaime trained here?" Naruto asked. The Yondaime was his idol so he was excited to be in an area where the Yondaime trained.

Hiruzen went to answer, but found himself at a loss for words. "Now that I think about it, the Yondaime only trained here twice. Rumor was it that he had a secret training ground but nobody knows where it is."

"Now, before we start on your Jiongu, I'm going to teach you a D-Rank Katon jutsu," Hiruzen said.

"You're going to teach me a jutsu?!" Naruto cried in disbelief.

"Yes, because you're going to need at least one jutsu for this new ability of the Jiongu," Hiruzen explained. "Now this jutsu isn't really that big of an attack, but it's the only one I've got that you probably won't hurt yourself with. But if you do hurt yourself, it won't be too bad."

"So what's the jutsu?" Naruto asked, paying close attention.

Hiruzen then started to explain the jutsu, "The hand seals are Uma, Inu, and Tora." He made the hand seals and took a deep breath before shouting, "Katon: Fire Bullet Jutsu!" He shot out a small fireball the size of a tennisball that impacted against the waterfall, making it steam a little.

"Wow!" Naruto shouted in amazement.

"In order to do this jutsu correctly, you have to gather chakra in your lungs and mold it into the shape of the Fire Bullet. Then you take a deep breath and exhale the air after it mixes with your chakra. When you are exhaling, you have to change your chakra into fire," Hiruzen explained.

"Okay!" Naruto cried as he made the hand seals and took in a deep breath. After mixing his chakra, he exhaled while shouting, "Katon: Fire Bullet Jutsu!" But instead of a fireball coming out, he coughed out a cloud of smoke. Hiruzen just laughed as Naruto ran over to the small lake and began to take big gulps of water.

After about 27 tries, Naruto was able to perform the jutu correctly. The Sandaime made him do it several more times so he could get used to the chakra flow.

"Now we're going to make an advancement with your Jiongu," Hiruzen said as he pulled out a Sealing Scroll.

"So what am I gonna learn?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen chuckled at his enthusiasm and said, "You're going to use the Jiongu to make your hearts fight for you."

"Huh?" Naruto didn't understand what he was saying.

The Sandaime sighed and said, "You can make the threads come out and make a body for the heart you stole to fight alongside you."

"I...still don't get it," Naruto said as he sratched the side of his head.

Hiruzen then tried to explain it though another approach, "Pull off your arm and have a bunch of threads come out." Naruto did as instructed and a fair amount of threads came out and formed a sphere the size of The Hat Hiruzen was wearing.

"Now, can you feel your second heart?" Naruto nodded. "Try to move it into that sphere." Naruto closed his eyes anc concentrated. He felt the heart within his body and willed the threads to move it. He could feel the heart as it went up his arm and towards where his arm detached. Naruto opened his eyes and saw the heart, still covered in crimson threads, as it was absorbed by the sphere. The sphere then shuddered as he began to detatch from Naruto and it fell to the floor in a quivering mess.

"D-did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked as he started to worry.

"No, what you need to do now is place your hand on the threads and make the heart go into a mask after I place it on the threads, I'll explain afterwards" Hiruzen said.

Naruto nodded and waited for the Hokage to pull out the mask. The Sandaime opened the scroll and pushed some chakra into it, making a mask pop out. It was a fox mask with red markings on it. The mask also had a movable jaw tht was filled with sharp teeth. Hiruzen placed the mask on the mass of threads and Naruto placed his hand next to it. Naruto directed the heart to go into the mask, and removed his hand once he felt that the process was done.

"Now you should have the threads take the shape of whatever animal you want," Hiruzen said. "Though, you should have it take the shape of a fox since that's the mask we put on it." Naruto nodded again and focused. The threads began to squirm around before they started to take shape. After a few moments, standing before them was a mass of crimson threads in the shape of a nine-tailed fox. It had rabbit-lke ears that were curved, and the fox mask that was placed on it moments before.

"Wow! I didn't know I could do that!" Naruto exclaimed as he watched the construct as it stood there like a statue.

"It's a special ability that the Jiongu is capable of," Hiruzen began. "You can animate the threads that your stolen hearts reside in so they can assist you in battle. However, it can only use the element of the heart that is inside it."

"This just makes me even more awesome!" Naruto shouted as he ran around his new construct.

"Though I have to ask, why make it look like the Kyuubi?" Hiruzen asked, getting a little nervous.

"Simple, I want it to look scary! That way my enemies will be too busy being afraid and I'll be able to beat them up!" Naruto told him. Hiruzen sighed, he should have known that that was the reason.

* * *

(End Flashback)

Naruto had learned to perform his jutsu though his construct, though it was very hard to do. He failed at it many times until he was able to get the justu to work correctly. He currently had the mask stitched to his mask by a long line that went across the upper portion of his back towards his right shoulder. Of course, he was forced to go through a small wardrobe change because of his new additions. Thankfully, Hiruzen had his personal tailor make the clothes for the blond.

He was now wearing a specially made vest that left his back bare so his mask creature could get out faster. It was black with a red swirl on his chest and dark orange flames on the bottom of the vest. To cover up his mask and stitching, he wore a black trenchcoat that had a belt tied at the waist. He was wearing black ninja pants with ANBU shinguards attached to them. On his feet were his blue sandals.

Naruto decided to take a walk through the forest and enjoy the relaxing breeze. As Naruto walked through the forest he could see the shapes of some people that were in the distance. As he crept closer, he could hear what they were saying.

"So you're a member of the Hyuuga clan?" a male voice said. Naruto got closer and saw three boys about two years older than him surrounding a little girl that was his age. He couldn't get a good view of her, but she appeared to have dark blue hair and was dressed in some formal robes.

"Y-yes I a-a-am," a soft, timid voice, probably the girls, replied.

"Oh, do you gonna think that we're not worthy of your attention?" a second male asked.

"N-n-no, I di-didn't say t-that..." the girl trailed off.

"Hey guys, let's show her that we're better than her stuck up clan!" the first male's voice suggested.

"Yeah!" the other two agreed. The next thing Naruto knew, they were pushing the small girl around.

"S-stop it!" the girl cried. But alas, her peas fell on deaf ears.

"That's enough," Naruto said as he stepped into the clearing. The boys stopped harassing the girl and let her fall to the floor. She looked up to see her savior, but Naruto wasn't looking at her yet. He would do so when he was sure that these bullies were going to leave.

"Hey, this is the kid my parents said to stay away from," the third bully said.

"Yeah, mine said that he was a demon in disguise," the first one whispered.

_'Demon? But he looks like a regular person,'_ the girl thought as she stared at Naruto.

"If you have to pick on someone younger than you, then you are really pathetic," Naruto said.

This angered the boys and the leader stepped forward. "Come on guys, there's one of him and three of us, we can take him!"

"Yeah!"

"You're right!" The three of them then charged Naruto.

Naruto sighed and said, "Just because there's more of you. it doesn't mean that you'll win." Then he got to work cleaning up the garbage.

He grabbed the fist of the first bully that cam flying towards him and threw him over his shoulder. He sidestepped the second bully and tripped him before he ducked under the third one's punch and elbowed him in the gut, making him double over in pain.

"You're outclassed, get out of here," Naruto said as he glared at them. "If I see you bullying anyone else again, then we're going to have problems!" With that, the three bullies scrambled to their feet and ran away. Naruto then turned to the girl to see her watching him in awe.

"You okay?" Naruto asked as the cold look faded from his eyes to be replaced with a caring blue. Now that he was sure that the bullys had left he was able to get a good look at her. She was around his age with blue hair that was in a hime-style cut that had two bangs framing her face. Her eyes were an attractive color of lavender that reminded Naruto of the moon.

"Y-yes!" the girl squeeked as she got out of her stupor, blushing red. Naruto just raised an eyebrow at her antics before shaking his head and extending a hand.

"Let me help you up," Naruto said.

"Oh! Th-thank you," the girl said as she took his hand as he gently pulled her up. She dusted off her robes before bowing to Naruto.

"Th-thank you f-for s-s-saving me," she said.

Naruto just waved her off and said, "It's no problem, I couldn't just let them push around someone. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, what's your name?"

"My n-name i-is H-H-Hinata Hy-Hyuuga," Hinata said.

"Hyuuga? Where have I heard that name before?" Naruto wondered.

"I-it's o-one of the m-most pre-prestigious clans in K-Konoha," Hinata said.

"Now I remember! I met that Hiashi guy in Jiji's office last year!" Naruto realized.

"You m-met Tou-sama?" Hinata asked.

"That was your dad? Wow, small world," Naruto said.

"I-I guess so," Hinata said.

"Hey," Naruto began, "do you want to be my friend?"

"Y-yes, I wo-would love to b-be your fr-friend Naruto-san," Hinata said with a small smile and blush.

"Don't call me '-san-', it makes me feel old," Naruto said.

Hinata looked down and said, "I'm so-sorry. Would y-you li-like me to c-call you N-Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah! That sounds better!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Hinata-sama! Get away from him!" Naruto turned around just in time to get a open-palm slap to the stomach, sending him flying. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was a young man with brown hair spiked backwards. He was wearing a black kimono and had the bulging eyes of the Byakugan.

Seeing that he was out of his league, Naruto lept to his feet and ran away.

"Ko-san! W-why did y-y-you do t-that? He h-helped me when s-some b-b-bullies were b-bothering me!" Hinata cried.

"Don't be fooled by it's lies Hinata-sama! That thing was trying to let you lower your guard so it could harm you," Ko said as he began to pull the young girl away, despite her protests.

* * *

(Hyuuga Compound)

As soon as Hinata was brought home, she ran to the garden where she knew her mother would be. Her mother would know what to do, she was really smart about things like this. Inside the Hyuuga garden, Hitomi was sitting a bench rubbing her slightly bulged stomach, she was already three monts pregnant with her second child.

"K-Kaa-chan!" Hinata cried as she ran towards her mother.

"Hinata-chan?" Hitomi was surprised to see her daughter in such a state. The young girl lept into her mother's lap and clung to her robes tightly. "What's wrong my dear?"

"I-it w-w-was K-Ko-san, he att-attacked a boy w-who s-s-saved me fr-from some b-b-bullies," Hinata said as she clung even tighter.

"Ko did WHAT?!" Hitomi screamed. Hiashi came running out a minute later, having heard his wife scream.

"What...happened?" Hiashi huffed.

"Our WONDERFUL bodyguard for Hinata decided to save her from a harmless BOY that had SAVED her from some ruffians," Hitomi said.

"Hinata, can you tell us about what happened?" Hiashi asked. So Hinata told her the story of how she was rescued from some bullies by Naruto, only for him to be attacked by Ko when they were talking. Hiashi, having heard enough, got up and went to search for Ko.

After a Branch member brought Ko to his office, Hiashi looked him straight in the eye.

"Good evening Ko," Hiashi greeted.

"Good evening Hiashi-sama," Ko greeted back.

"How was your walk through the village with Hinata today?" the Hyuuga head asked.

"It was fine, I kept her away from all trouble," Ko told him.

Hiashi quirked an eyebrow and said, "Really? Because I heard a different story." He then sent Ko a harsh glare and said, "She said that you both got separated and told me how she was assaulted by some ruffians when she was in the forest."

"And I defended her from the threat," Ko said.

"Did you now?" Hiashi asked in a sarcastic tone. "She told me that she was rescued from three boys two years older than her by a young boy. A young boy that you assaulted without warning."

"There wasn't a group there, just a..._boy_ that was harassing her," Ko said, spitting out the word 'boy' like it was a poison.

Hiashi just sent him a glare and said, "So I should just disregard what my daughter told me and believe you instead, correct?"

"That thing probably made an illusion to try and gain her trust before it-," Ko said.

"Enough!" Hiashi yelled, "I will not sit here and let you lie to my face!"

"But I am not lying Hiashi-sama!" Ko protested.

"I have met the Uzumaki boy and have seen that he is a well-mannered boy when he meets his superiors unless they allow him to do otherwise," Hiashi said. "I've seen that he has pure intentions for the village, a village that spits on the sacrifice the Yondaime made."

Before Ko could say anything, Hiashi said to him, "Tomorrow you will accompany me, my wife, and Hinata to Uzumaki-san's apartment, where you will apologize for your behavior against him. Maybe if you spend some time with him you will see how wrong the village is when they speak about him."

With that, Hiashi dismissed Ko. The younger Hyuuga could only walk out of his office in mild shock. He was going to spend tomorrow with that...that thing!

* * *

(Tomorrow-Naruto's Apartment)

Naruto sat at his table as he finished making his breakfast. A bowl of Ninja Flakes and a nice cold glass of fresh milk that he sto-bought from the store. He was too lazy to change into his regular clothes right away so he just sat there in his pajamas.

_'Hmm, I wonder if I'll see that Hinata girl again,'_ Naruto thought as he ate another spoonful of cereal. He was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of someone knocking at the door, making him narrow his eyes in suscpicion.

Only three people knew where he lived. The Hokage, Tsunade, and her apprentice Shizune, and they NEVER visited him in the morning. So he slowly crept towards the door and had his threads out and formed them into a blade.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked. He wanted to make sure if it was someone he knew.

"N-Naruto-kun? I-it's me, H-Hinata," he heard. Naruto took a small peek outside through his door and saw that it was indeed the Hyuuga girl from yesterday. But behind her were three people, he recognized Hiashi and the Hyuuga that he had the _pleasure_ of meeting yesterday, but he didn't know who the woman was. Naruto thought that it was Hinata's mother since she had the same hair color as the girl.

"Give me a minute!" Naruto called out as he rushed back towards his room and changed his clothes in record time. After adjusting his trenchcoat, he went back to the front and opened the door.

"Oh, hello again Hinata-chan, Hiashi-sama, Hyuuga-teme, ma'am," Naruto greeted with a smile. Ko was fuming at his new title, but it appeared that nobody else was bothered by it.

_'You deserve it,'_ Hitomi thought while grinning internally.

"Come on in, I was just about to have breakfast," Naruto said as he walked back inside, his guests following him in, though Ko was a bit reluctant, until Hiashi sent him a look.

"Do you guys want anything? All I've got is Ninja Flakes and ramen," Naruto asked as he walked towards his refrigerator.

"No thank you Naruto-san, we've already had breakfast," Hitomi said.

"Oh, okay," Naruto said as he turned around and sat in his chair. "So why did you come over? I mean, I'm not the type of person to get so many visitors, especially in the morning."

"Ko here has something that he would like to say to you," Hiashi said as he gave Ko a look that said, 'be nice or we'll have problems'.

Ko took a deep breath, he couldn't believe that he was going to do this! "I am sorry for attacking you yesterday Uzumaki-san, I thought that you were attacking Hinata-sama, not helping her."

Naruto shook his head and said, "It's fine, you were just doing your job like I was when I saw her being bothered by those jerks."

"And what would your job be?" Hitomi asked.

"If I'm gonna be Hokage one day, I have to make sure that there's no more bullying. It's not a nice thing to do, Dattebayo!" Naruto said.

"Y-you w-want to be H-H-Hokage?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah! The Hokage's the strongest person in the village, so that's a place for me," Naruto told her.

Hiashi was in deep thought for a moment before suggesting, "Hinata, why don't you and Naruto go and walk through the village for the day?"

"R-really Tou-sama?" Hinata asked, shocked that he would allow this.

Hiashi nodded and said, "You should take the time to get to know your new friend."

"T-thank you T-Tou-sama!" Hinata stammered out as she went to the front to put her sandals on.

Naruto stared at Hiashi for a while before asking, "Can you lock the door on your way out?"

"Of course," Hiashi said.

"Okay!" Naruto said as he went to put his sandals on. He then rushed back into his room and placed Gama-chan in his back pocket before he left with Hinata.

"Ko," Hiashi started, "in order for you to get a better understanding of Naruto, you will tail them and WILL NOT interfere with ANYTHING unless they are being harmed by civilians or drunken shinobi."

Ko looked appaled for a moment before nodding and rushing after the two children.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Hiashi-kun?" Hitomi asked.

"It's the best one I can think of at the moment," Hiashi said.

* * *

(Training Ground 27)

Naruto had lead the Hyuuga heiress towards his personal training grounds. Ko had followed them and was wondering what Naruto was up to.

"N-Naruto-kun, why a-a-are we here?" Hinata asked.

"This is my personal training grounds," Naruto stated as he waved his arms out, "Why we're here is because I want to show you something."

"Wh-what is it?" Hinata asked.

"Can you keep it a secret?" Naruto asked.

"Y-yes, I c-c-can," Hinata said.

"I'm gonna show you my special jutsu, it's something that I got after I was born," Naruto explained.

"W-what kind of j-jutsu?" Hinata asked.

"A kinjutsu,"Naruto then went and told her the same story the Sandaime told him when he first discovered the Jiongu. By the time he was finished, Hinata was at tears and hugged him saying that nobody had to go through that.

"Um, c-can I see i-it?" Hinata asked.

"Sure!" Naruto replied as he pulled back the sleave of his right arm and revealed his detachable limb. He then pulled off his forearm and Hinata watched in amazement as the crimson threads came out and staued connected to the limb. Hinata then reached out and took a small amount of threads into her hands.

"I-it's so so-soft, l-l-like silk," Hinata said in amazement as she continued to observe the material. She then began to giggle as a stray thread danced past her ear, lightly grazing it.

"What's up?" Naruto asked as he heard her giggle.

Hinata blushed for a moment before saying, "N-nothing, it j-just ti-tickled me a l-l-little."

Naruto then had a playful grin on his face as he thought of something fun to do. "So you're ticklish, huh?"

"Y-yes, I-I'm terribly ti-ticklish," Hinata said, not seeing his grin. "W-why d-do you a-a-ask?"

"Oh no reason, just thought that you might enjoy...THIS!" Naruto shouted as he sent his tendrils towards the smaller girl as they began running across her skin.

Hinata's eyes went wide before she burst out laughing. "Nhahaharutohohoho! HAHAHAHA! Pleeeeaaaseee! It's tooo muhuhuhch!"

"From what I can tell, you're enjoying this!" Naruto said as he took off her sandals and began to scribble his fingers over his feet, making her voice go up another octave.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! PLEAHAHAHASSEE STAHAHAHAP! I CAAHAN'T TAHAHAKE IT ANYMOHOHORE!" Hinata laughed as she flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to get free.

Thinking that she had enough, Naruto let her go and retracted his tendrils. Hinata laid there on the floor taking deep breaths, her face flushed a bright pink.

"So, did you have fun?" Naruto asked.

"F-fun?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, you looked like you needed to smile a bit more, so I discovered the perfect way to get you to do so," Naruto said as he gave her a fox-like grin.

Hinata looked at him before giving him a small smile. "Y-yes, I had a l-l-little f-fun."

Naruto grinned and said, "Good, because I have another part of my Jiongu that I want to show you."

"Wh-what is i-it?" Hinata asked. Naruto said nothing as he undid the belt that was tied around his trenchcoat and shrugged it off, revealing the mask that was stitched to his back. Hinata put her hads to her mouth and gasped in shock.

"Don't worry, this is part of it," Naruto then explained to her how he was able to use the hearts to make creatures to assist him in battle.

"Let me show you." Naruto then put his hands in the Tora seal and said, "Jiongu: Activate." The part on his back with the mask began to pulse before the stitching came undone and the mask lept off with a mass of crimson tendrils attatched to it. Once it hit the ground it took the shape of a nine-tailed fox.

"Th-that's a-a-amazing," Hinata said as she watched the fox stand there.

"Yeah! I can also make it use any fire jutsu I know," Naruto said.

"Wh-why only f-f-fire jutsu?" Hinata asked.

"Because that's the elemental affinity this heart has," Naruto told her.

Naruto then looked at the sky and saw that was around noon. That meant that it was lunchtime, of course, it also didn't help that his stomach decided to voice its own opinion, making a large growling noise. Naruto blushed in embarrassment as Hinata giggled at him.

"Does someone want to laugh some more?" Naruto asked with a mischievous grin as he waved his tendrils through the air. Hinata giggled a little as she stepped back.

"Th-that's not ne-necessary," Hinata said.

Naruto chuckled and said, "Let's go and get some lunch, do you like ramen?"

"I-i haven't ha-had it be-before," Hinata said as she poked her fingers together. When she didn't hear Naruto say anything, she looked up at him to see that he had a shocked look on his face.

"You...you've NEVER had ramen?" Naruto asked. Hinata just meekly nodded and Naruto let out a scream of horror before he took her hand into his own and began racing towards Ichiraku's. After he got his fire heart back into his body.

"EEP!" was all Hinata could say as she was forced to follow Naruto into the village. Ko was silently following them while trying to prevent himself from rushing the boy.

After racing into the village, Naruto stopped in front of the ramen stand and yelled inside.

"Old Man Ichiraku! We've got an emergancy!" Naruto yelled. Teuchi ran out to see Naruto with a panting Hinata next to him.

"What is it? Did the Hokage limit you to only eating one bowl?" Teuchi asked in horror.

"Worse!" Naruto cried. "She has never had ramen in her life!"

Teuchi looked at Hinata with some horror written on his face. "Ayame! We need a bowl of Miso ramen NOW!" With that, he rushed back into the kitchen,leaving the two kids alone at the booth.

After three minutes of waiting, Teuchi brought out a steaming bowl of ramen and placed it in front of Hinata. She picked up her chopsticks and took a small amount of the noodles into her mouth and swallowed. Her eyes lit up and she began to eat more of them at a faster pace.

"T-this is d-d-delicious!" Hinata exclaimed softly.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief and said, "Thank Kami, you were suffering from a severe case of ramen deprivation."

"Umm, I-I don't th-think th-that's a r-real thing," Hinata said.

"Of course it is! Nobody can survive without ramen!" Naruto said.

"B-but I ha-haven't eaten r-r-ramen and I-I'me f-f-fine," Hinata pointed out.

Naruto put on a thinking expression and said, "But you can't live without a delicious food like ramen."

"C-cinnamon b-b-buns are d-d-delicious to m-me," Hinata said.

"Everyone has wierd tastes," Naruto said as he went back to devouring two bowls at once.

After they had lunch, Naruto decided to take Hinata back home. She had to lead the way of course since he had no idea where she lived. Upon reaching the Hyuuga Compound, the gurds kept an eye on Naruto while he and Hinata said goodbye.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto began, "are you going to join the academy next year?"

"Y-yes, I-I'm going to t-t-train to be-become a ninja," the young Hyuuga said.

"Great! Maybe we'll be in the same class," Naruto said.

"I-I would li-like that ve-very much," Hinata said as she poked her fingers together.

"Well, see you around Hinata!" Naruto said. The young Hyuuga walked back into her compound and Naruto walked back to his appartment. Ko lept down from the trees with a thoughtful expression on his face. He entered Hiashi's study where the man was waiting for him.

"I trust that there were no problems?" Hiashi asked.

Ko shook his head and said, "No Hiashi-sama, Hinata-sama seemed to enjoy her time with Uzumaki-san."

Hiashi nodded and asked, "Have you seen how the rumors about Naruto-san aren't true?"

"Yes, I even saw that he has a kinjutsu of his own," Ko said.

"You must never speak about it until Naruto-san makes it known to others," Hiashi said. "There are people in this village who would do anything to get their hands on him if they knew."

"I understand Hiashi-sama," Ko said.

* * *

**Complete! Another chapter well done if I do say so myself.**

**So now Naruto's made a bond with Hinata. She doesn't have any feelings towards him right now, but that will change in about two chapters during their academy years.**

**There won't be an update for a while. I've got finals to study for, and I would like to finish my latest chapter of Kingdom Hearts I'm done, I will try to get the next chapter done as quickly as possible.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Academy Begins

Chapter 4: The Academy Begins

* * *

**How's everybody doing today? You all excited for this next chapter of Master of Jiongu? Good! This one's going to bring a lot of people some form of sadistic pleasure.**

**No matter what fanfiction you write, you just have to put in the first day at the academy. It is where everyone meets and starts to bond with their future friends, make rivals, and listen to annoying fangirls gush over a certain emo.**

**A note, Sasuke bashing will not be as severe as Sakura bashing. I can tolerate Sasuke somewhat, so he's only getting bashed when he goes into emo avenger mode.**

**To clarify something the Guest reviewer, just a reader, asked me in his review, Jiongu is the Japanese name for Earth Grudge Fear. You can see it on Wikipedia if you were confused.**

**Now that I've cleared that up, let's start the party!**

* * *

(Konoha-Five Months Later)

A six-year old Naruto jumped out of bed earlier than usual with a big smile on his face. And why wouldn't he? Today was the day he starts attending the Academy! A place where he could meet people his age, hopefully they wouldn't glare at him like all the adults would. While he was still friends with Hinata, he wanted to make more friends and expand his social life.

Naruto inhaled his breakfast and put on his clothes in record time. he made extra sure that his trenchcoat would hide all his stitches so nobody would ask questions. Before he walked out the door, he remembered the conversation he had with the Hokage last week.

* * *

(Flashback-Sandaime's Office)

"You wanted to see me Jiji?" Naruto asked as he sat down in the chair across from Hiruzen.

"Yes Naruto-kun," Hiruzen confirmed. "You're starting the Academy next week, right?"

"Yeah! And I'm gonna be the best ninja there!" Naruto proclaimed.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"I don't want you to be the best ninja in the Academy," Hiruzen bluntly said.

As predicted, Naruto exploded. "WHAT?! Why shouldn't I be the best? I want everyone to know how awesome I really am!"

Hiruzen sighed and told him, "That's the thing, if everyone knew how tough you really were, then you wouldn't be a real ninja."

Naruto was surprised, "What are you talking about?"

"A real ninja hides his skills from his enemies," Hiruzen explained. "A real ninja is deceptive and sneaky, always hiding in the shadows while hunting his prey. If you were to show everyone your abilities, then they might find ways to counter it."

Naruto thought it over for a moment before saying, "So you want me to be weak so people will underestimate me?"

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "I didn't say that you should be the weak one. You should just be an average student. That way you won't be weak, and you won't attract attention to yourself."

"Okay Jiji! I'll make you proud!" Naruto said as he got up and left the room.

_'Besides, if you showed everyone your abilities, I wouldn't be able to protect you. Not until you become a ninja,'_ Hiruzen thought as he lit his pipe for a smoke.

* * *

(Flashback End)

Naruto shook his head and got back to reality as he looked at the clock. He saw that he had a little over an hour to get there. So he tightened the belt on his trenchcoat and grabbed his aviator goggles. They were a gift from Hinata as a thank you for saving her from the bullies all those months ago.

After locking his front door, Naruto jumped down his stairs and lept into the street before running towards the Academy. As he ran, he could see the glares and looks of disgust on the civilians faces. He just shrugged them off and continued running.

After a half-hour of running through the streets, Naruto arrived at the main gate of the Academy. He looked up in awe of the large building, the place where he would learn to become a shinobi. He could feel his threads reacting to his excitement with all their wiggling. He calmed down and walked into the building, but couldn't keep the grin off of his face. Naruto walked to the front desk where a young woman was reading a magazine.

"Hi! Can you tell me where the classroom for the new students is?" Naruto asked.

"Down the hall and to you left, it's Room 15," the woman said without looking up from her magazine. Naruto said thanks and jogged down the hallways. He arrived at the room and opened the door before walking inside.

The room was fairly simple, there was a teachers desk in the front, a blackboard behind it. The desks were arranged in a rising position where the teacher could see all the students. There were children his age inside the room already sitting down and chatting with each other. Eight of them stood out to him however. Three girls and five boys.

The first boy was sitting towards the back of the was wearing a grey coat with a color that hit everything under the black shades he wore. He had spikey brown hair like his own. Naruto thought he spied a small beetle crawling across his hand, but shook it off.

The next boy was a...round boy with a bag of chips in his hands. He was wearing a green jackacket with spiral markings on his cheeks. He had spikey brown hair on his head.

The third boy was sleeping on his desk. As far as Naruto could see, he had his hair styled like a pineapple. He was wearing a grey shirt with a clan marking on it. Naruto thought that he was just tired from not getting enough sleep. After all, Naruto woke up every three hours because of his excitement last night!

The fourth boy was wearing a grey hoodie with the hood down, revealing his shaggy brown hair. He had slitted pupils and red fang-like markings on his cheeks. Sitting on his head was a small white puppy.

The final boy was sitting in the corner of the room with a bored expression on his face. He was wearing a blue shirt with a crest on the back of it that looked like a fan. He had hair that was spiked in the appearance of a duck's butt. Naruto had to stiffle a laugh as he thought about that.

Finally he looked at the girls that stood out. The first one was a pink-haired girl with a red bow in her hair. She was wearing a red shirt and black shorts and was staring dreamily at the boy with the duck-butt hair.

The second girl was on with platinum-blond hair. She was wearing a light purple shirt and pants that reached her knees and had a green clip in her hair. Naruto caught her staring at the girl with pink hair with a sign of depression before she turned back and staring at the same boy, but not as longingly as the first girl.

The third girl was someone Naruto instantly recognized, it was Hinata! Naruto smiled as he jumped up the steps to his friend. Seeing that she was spaced out, Naruto poked her in the side to get her attention.

Hinata was thinking about whether or not Naruto would be in her class. She hoped that he would! He was her only friend that was her own age after all! She was jolted out of her thoughts be a poke to her side. She practically jumped out of her seat while bitting her lip to hold in her bubbling giggles. She turned her head and saw the person she was thinking about.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata softly cried.

"Hi Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted. He then sat down in the chair next to her while giving her a large grin.

"Are you excited about being here?" Naruto asked.

"I-I'm a l-l-little n-nervous ab-about this," Hinata admitted.

"Don't worry about it! You're gonna do great!" Naruto told her. Hinata blushed at the praise and just played with her fingers.

It was then that the classroom door opened and two shinobi stepped inside. They were wearing a Chunin's uniform and were carrying boxes full of books. One had his brown hair in a pineapple style with a scar across the bridge of his nose. The other one just had silvery-blue hair that fell to his shoulders.

"Hello everyone!" the one with the scar said as he set the boxes on the desk and faced the class.

"My name is Iruka Umino, one of your instructor for your classes at the academy," Iruka said.

"I'm Mizuki Touji, another one of your insrtuctors," the other man said.

"Now before we start with getting you all settled in for your classes, why don't we all introduce ourselves? I'll call you in alphabetical order and you'll come to the front and tell us your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future," Iruka explained.

"First up, Shino Aburame."

The boy with the large coat walked to the front of the room and faced everyone.

"My name is Shino Aburame. I like most types of insects. I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. I like to collect and observe different types of insects. My goal for the future is to one day become the Aburame Clan Head."

"Thank you Shino," the Aburame heir walked back to his desk quietly. "Next up, Choji Akimichi."

The round boy walked up to the front of the room after he left his bag of chips on his desk and faced everyone with a nervous grin on his face.

"Uhh, hi. I'm Choji Akimichi. I like to eat different foods, and my friend Shikamaru. I dislike people who discriminat the Akimichi clan because of how we maintain our jutsu, and people who make fun of me for being _big-boned_. My hobbies are relaxing with Shikamaru and testing my Kaa-chan's cooking. My dreams are to become the next head of the Akimichi Clan."

After Choji walked back to his seat, Iruka looked at the attendance board and said who was next, "Sakura Haruno."

The girl with the pink hair walked to the front of the room and stood before the class with a look of superiority around her, like she was the boss of the classroom.

"My name's Sakura Haruno. I like... My hobbies are... And my dreams for the future are..." Everytime she paused, she would look at the boy with the duck-butt hair and squeal, making the boy groan and slam his head into his desk.

"And your dislikes?" Iruka asked, already crying on the inside because of the fact that this was a fangirl.

"People who are stupid!" Sakura roared. After she walked back to his desk, Iruka caled out the next name.

"Hinata Hyuuga." After some words of encouragement from Naruto, Hinata walked to the front of the room and faced the class.

"H-hello, I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuuga. I-I like sw-sweet foods, and s-s-spending time with m-my friend N-Naruto. I di-dislike people w-w-who look d-down on others and s-seafood. M-my hobbies a-a-are fl-flower pressing and g-g-gardening. My d-d-reams for th-the f-f-future is to c-change the w-way of the Hyuuga c-clan."

After walking back to her seat quickly, the next name was called up. "Kiba Inuzuka."

The boy with the dog raced down to the front and faced everyone with a feral grin.

"I'm Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru! I like spending time with the dogs at my clan compound and my buddy here. I dislike cats and people who hate dogs. My hobbies are playing with Akamaru and training. My dream for the future is to become one of the best ninja in the village!"

"Shikamaru Nara." When nobody came up Iruka looked around the room until he saw the sleeping boy. Shikamaru Nara!" Iruka yelled. He was about to yell again when he saw Choji raise his hand to stop him.

Choji then turned to Shikamaru and said, "Shikamaru, your mother's here."

As fast as lightning, Shikamaru jumped out of his seat while looking around fearfully. When he didn't see his mother he looked at Choji with a bored expression.

"Choji, that was cruel and heartless," Shikamaru told him.

"Now that you're awake, maybe you would like to introduce yourself to the class?" Iruka asked with a look on his face that just dared him to say no.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he trudged to the front.

"I'm Shikamaru Nara. I like relaxing and playing Shogi. I dislike troublesome things like extra work. My hobbies are cloud watching and resting. I don't really have a goal for the future, it's too troublesome to think of one."

Most of the class snickered at his introduction while Iruka and Mizuki just sighed. They already knew to expect this from a Nara, but it was worse then they thought. Iruka just shook his head and called out the next student.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The boy with the duck-butt hair walked to the front of the classroom and looked at them with an air of superiority around him.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, a member of the great Uchiha clan. I like my family and onigiri. I dislike those who are weak and pathetic. My hobbies are training to get stronger. My goal is to one day surpass my brother Itachi."

Iruka nodded as he watched Sasuke walk back to his seat. He looked down at the sheet and bit back a groan when he saw the next name. He considered skipping over it but decided that it wasn't worth the trouble.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Neither Naruto or Hinata missed the small hint of disgust when Iruka called him out. After being Naruto's friend, Hinata was able to see all the looks of hatred and disgust that were thrown Naruto's way. She asked him why they did that, but Naruto truthfully told her that he doesn't know.

The young Uzumaki jumped to the front of the room and faced the class with a big fox-like grin.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo! I like ramen and spending time with my friend Hinata-chan! I dislike mean people and those who think they're better than others. My hobbies are training and hanging out with Hinata-chan. My goal for the future is to become Hokage!"

_'As if anyone would let you rule the village you tried to destroy!'_ Were the thoughts of the two Academy instructors. Once he was back in his seat, Iruka called up the last name of the list.

"Ino Yamanaka." The blond haired girl walked to the front of the room and faced the class.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka. I like all types of flowers and spending type at my family's flower shop. I dislike mean people and idiots who think they're better than me just because I'm a girl. My hobbies are working at the flower shop and helping my parents. My dreams for the future are to win the affections of Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke just banged his head into the desk again, making a nice indentation of his face on the wood.

Iruka could see that she was a fangirl, but wasn't lost to the forbidden side of the kunoichi just yet. A simple push in the right direction would help her.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you all, I hope that you all achieve your goals and become strong shinobi who will work to make Konoha prosper," Iruka said.

"Now then, how many of you know a jutsu?" Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Shikamaru raised their hands.

"Okay then, come up to the front of the room." The four kids did so and Iruka continued. "Can you demonstrate them to the class please?"

"I'll go first, that way it won't be to troublesome," Shikamaru said as he stepped forward and faced Naruto. He then held his hands in the Ne seal and everyone watched as his shadow went and connected to Naruto.

"Shadow Possession success," Shikamaru droned as he rested his hands at his side, making Naruto do the same.

"Hey! What gives?!" Naruto cried as he struggled to control his movements. Shikamaru then reached behind him, making Naruto reach behind him. He then made Naruto grab the ruler on the desk and use it to poke Sasuke. The Uchiha growled and ripped the ruler away from Naruto while giving him a glare.

"Why are you glaring at me? He's the one making he do this!" Naruto protested. Sasuke then went and glared at Shikamaru, who released the jutsu and stepped back.

"Troublesome, I would have made him poke Hinata, but then she would have gotten mad at me, and an angry woman is more troublesome than you being angry," Shikamaru explained.

"Okay, enough with that, now let's get onto seeing what the others have to show," Iruka interjected.

"I suggest that we go outside for my jutsu, it's big," Sasuke told him.

Iruka nodded and said to the class, "We're going outside to view the rest of the jutsu."

The class cheered as they stampeded out the door, leaving behind a large dust cloud. After clearing away the dust, Iruka and Mizuki saw that Naruto and Hinata were still inside. Naruto was patting Hinata's back since some of the dust got into her mouth. When she was done coughing, the two raced outside with the rest of the class. Iruka and Mizuki just performed a Shunshin to get there.

"Okay Sasuke, perform your jutsu," Iruka said once he was sure that everyone was outside.

Sasuke nodded and performed several hand seals before taking in a deep breath and declaring, "Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A large fireball shot out of Sasuke's mouth and went into the sky where it evaporated into the clouds.

"Impressive Sasuke!" Iruka said as he and most of the class cheered. The ones who didn't cheer were Shino, becasue it roasted a few insects in the sky, Shikamaru, because it was to troublesome, Hinata, because Hyuuga's don't like Uchiha's, and Naruto, because he didn't feel like it.

"Alright, Naruto, how about you go next?" Iruka suggested.

"Yosh! It's my turn!" Naruto cheered as he ran to the front of the class and faced a row of practice targets. He made the correct hand seals and took in a deep breath before crying, "Katon: Fire Bullet Jutsu!" Several fist sized fireballs flew out of his mouth and impacted against the targets, burning them to pieces.

"Don't use our equipment as firewood you blockhead!" Iruka yelled as he wacked Naruto on the head with his clipboard. Naruto held his head in slight pain as the tendrils in his body wiggled around in anger.

"Now Hinata, let's see what you can do," Iruka said as he and the class faced the shy girl. She took a deep breath before walking to the front of the class and made a chain of hand seals.

"Byakugan!" Hinata cried as the veins in her eyes bulged and her Byakugan activated.

"Good! You can already activate your Doujutsu," Iruka said as he made a mark on his clipboard.

"Um, I-I can a-also pe-perform the E-Eight Trigrams: E-Eight Palms," Hinata said.

"Is that so? Use Naruto as an example of what it can do. Consider this punishment for ruining Academy equipment," Mizuki said. Surprisingly, neither child had any argument about this.

"Don't worry about it Hinata! Just relax and you'll do fine," Naruto reassured her when he saw her apologetic look.

Hinata took a deep breath and slipped into the Jyuken. She then darted forward and began to hit Naruto with her pointer and middle fingers.

"Two Palms!"

"Four Plams!"

"Eight Plams!"

When she was finished, she jumped back and watched as Naruto stumbled forward. She then ran towards him and caught him as he fell down a little.

"Wow, you're getting better and better with your training!" Naruto exlaimed. Hinata just blushed from the praise and opened up the closed tenketsu.

"Now let's go back inside so we can goover what you'll be learning," Iruka said. The class moved back inside, though Hinata had to help Naruto a little since he was still sore from her attack.

Once they were back inside, Naruto was dying on the inside. Why? Because from what Iruka and Mizuki were telling them was that most of their classes would consist of going over theories, mathematics, and history. What did theories have to do with becoming a ninja? He did lighten up when he heard that they would be doing some Taijutsu sparring every two days, and that they would be doing chakra control exercises every day. Kami knows that he needs it desperately.

They were let out for lunch an hour later and everyone went to their own corners. Naruto and Hinata sat under one of the trees that was littering the area to eat their lunch. Naruto had brought some of the sushi that Tsunade bought for him every once in a while. Hinata had a bento box that her mother had made for her.

"So Hinata, when is your sister coming out of you mother?" Naruto asked as he popped a sushi roll into his mouth.

"Sh-she said that i-it's s-s-supposed to b-be n-next month," Hinata told him as she chewed on some rice.

"I wonder what it's like to have a little sister," Naruto said as he looked at the sky.

"M-maybe H-Hanabi will t-treat y-you like one if y-y-you come o-over often," Hinata suggested. Naruto nodded and cheewed on some more sushi before he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Hinata looked down for some reason.

Naruto hated to see his friend sad for any reason and would do anything to cheer her up. So he sent a small thread stealthily through the grass over to her feet before it slipped inside her sandal and began wiggling around.

Hinata gasped as she felt the tickly feeling on her foot. She looked over to Naruto while biting her lip to see him looking away innocently, too innocently.

"N-Nahahruto-kun, wh-whaat are you d-dohohoing?" Hinata whislered while her shoulders shook from her soft giggles.

"I have no idea what you're talking 'bout Hinata-chan," Naruto replied while laughing on the inside.

"Pleahahase sthahap Naruto-kuuuun," Hinata managed to giggle out. Naruto complied and retracted the thread, but not before it ran across her toes, causing Hinata to gasp out in surprise.

"What's got you looking so down?" Naruto asked.

"I-I was just f-feeling a l-little sad f-for you," Hinata admitted, making Naruto confused.

"Why me?" Naruto asked.

"Because y-you don't have a f-f-family like m-me," Hinata said.

Naruto shook his head and said, "You don't have to worry about me, it doesn't hurt as much as it used to." Hinata just nodded and continued eating with her friend.

After everyone had lunch, they moved into the courtyard where there were fighting rings in the dirt. Iruka and Mizuki were standing before the entire class waiting for everyone to gather around.

"Okay everyone, we're going to hold Taijutsu matches to see how skilled everyone is. When your name is called, step into the arena," Iruka explained to them. "You will fight until one of you ends up outside the arena, one of you gives up, or I call the match."

"First pair up is Choji amd Shikamaru," Mizuki announced as he read the names off of the clip board. The two friends stepped into the arena, but Choji looked extremely nervous.

"Iruka-sensei, I don't want to hurt my friend," Choji said.

Iruka sighed and said, "It's just a Taijutsu match Choji, and I highly doubt anybody here can hurt somebody too much." Naruto just grinned on the inside, too bad nobody knew about his abilities.

Shikamaru sighed and said, "I forfeit, it would be too troublesome to fight anyway."

Iruka sighed and gave the win to Choji. Mizuki just put some marks on his board and called out the next pair.

"Kiba and Renji." Kiba jumped into the field after he left Akamaru underneath a shady tree. His opponent was a civilian who had a smug look on his face.

"Didn't want you weak little puppy getting hurt?" Renji sneered. Kiba just growled and glared at him.

Iruka, not wanting to see an angry Inuzuka get angrier, just started the match. kiba lept forward and delt a punch to Renji's chest and sent him flying. He landed just short of the ring and lept to his feet with a snarl. Renji ran towards Kiba and sent a sloppy punch at him.

Kiba just scoffed at the attack and knocked the punch away before he tripped him and held a fist to Renji's face.

"Forfeit!" Kiba growled.

"I give up!" Renji cried as he looked at Kiba with fear.

"Winner, Kiba!" Iruka declared. The Inuzuka got off of the civilian and walked back to where he left Akamaru and put him back on his head. Iruka then decided to call out the next set of fighters.

"Sasuke and Naruto." Many of the female portion of the class cheered when they heard the Sasuke's name was called. Naruto walked into the after getting a good luck from Hinata, the only female that didn't cheer for Sasuke.

"Are you two ready?" Iruka asked.

"Let's get started already!" Naruto shouted as he settled into his stance. His knees were bent, the right side of his body was facing Sasuke, and his right arm was positioned in a horizontal angle across from his chest. His left arm was set in the same position, but it was behind his back.

"Hn," was all that Sasuke said as he slipped into the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist.

"Begin!" Iruka began the fight and stepped back, waiting to see what would happen.

Neither of the two boys moved, each one was waiting for the other to start first.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto smirked and said, "I'm not gonna make the first move, that would be stupid unless you are absolutely sure that you're going to win."

"Then I guess I'll start us off," Sasuke said as he darted forward and aimed a ounch at Naruto's chest. The blond boy ducked under Sasuke's outstretched arm and hit Sasuke under his arm, knocking him off balance before Naruto shoved him backwards with a good shoulder to the stomach.

"Had enough?" Naruto asked as he watched Sasuke get his bearings. Naruto was crying on the inside because his poor ears were being assaulted by the loud protests of Sasuke's fangirls.

"Grrr, take this!" Sasuke roared as he darted forward and tried to deliver one powerful punch after another. Naruto was able to block most of them, but a couple were able to hit him on his shoulders, and one grazed his cheek. The Uzumaki then fell backwards and used his feet to kick Sasuke in the chest, making him back off for a moment. Naruto took the time to massage his right shoulder while Sasuke was planning his next move. The two of them then darted towards each other again.

"Wow! They're really going at it!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Yeah, what do you think about this Shikamaru?" Choji asked as he ate his chips.

"Troublesome, I can see that they're really skilled fighters," Shikamaru said. "The only one who doesn't look surprised is Hinata."

"Hey Hinata, doesn't Sasuke look amazing?" Sakura asked as she stared at the Uchiha with hearts in her eyes.

"I-I'm just s-surprised that he's a-able to k-keep up w-w-with Naruto-k-kun," Hinata said.

"What are you talking about? Sasuke's the best! There's no way he'll lose!" Sakura protested, making the surrounding people lose their hearing for a moment.

After she regained her hearing, Hinata said, "I-I've sparred w-with N-Naruto-kun, h-he's s-s-stronger than how he's f-f-fighting ri-right now."

Sakura just huffed and went back to watching the fight, or more importantly, watching Sasuke while mentally undressing him.

Sasuke was standing on one side of the arena while taking some deep breaths. On the other side, Naruto just stood there, not having even broken a sweat, courtesy of his ungodly stamina.

Before either of them could make their next move, Iruka appeared between them.

"That's enough! We've seen where each of you stand, now let's get to the other fights," Iruka said.

"Wait a minute! Who's the winner?" Naruto asked.

Iruka glared at him and said, "It's a draw, you were both evenly matched."

Sasuke glared at Naruto, but the Uzumaki just ignored him.

_'Just wait you nobody, I'll make sure that you know that your place is beneath me,'_ Sasuke growled as he walked away to brood.

"Mizuki, who's next?" Iruka asked

"Uh, Sakura and Hinata," Mizuki said as he read the pair off of the board. The two girls had entered the ring and Hinata was taking deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"Once I'm done with you, I'm going to beat that blond baka for taking Sasuke-kun's win!" Sakura growled.

Something in Hinata snapped and she just wordlessly slipped into the Jyuken and waited for Iruka to start the match.

"What's the matter? Too scared to talk to me?" Sakura taunted. Naruto was about to yell at her to shut up when he saw the look on Hinata's face. Something told him that he should just watch.

As soon as Iruka started the match. Sakura ran forward and sent a sloppy punch towards the Hyuuga heiress. Hinata dodged the blow and flew at Sakura before she began to strike at her tanketsu. Once Hinata jumped back, Sakura fell to the floor in a heap, ending the match.

"Don't you EVER insult Naruto-kun again," Hinata said in a dark tone, without a single stutter!

"T-the winner is H-H-Hinata," Iruka stammered as he watched the SHORT match. Hinata walked back to Naruto's side before she snapped out of trance she was in. As she looked around, she saw the pile of limbs that was formerly Sakura.

"D-did I-I-I r-r-really do th-that?" Hinata asked. After getting a confirming nod from Naruto, who felt like he couldn't trust his voice, Hinata fainted and fell into Naruto who quickly caught her.

"I thought we finally got over the fainting," Naruto sighed as he went and propped Hinata up against the tree before sitting down next to her.

While he was waiting for her to recover, the last few fights had occured, the only one that was at least interesting was with the Ino girl, she was one of the few females that was able to fight like she had some skill. Of course, she wasn't as good as Hinata in Naruto's opinion, but he saw that she was a good person to be in second place for female fighters.

While the teachers were going over the results of the spars, Naruto deided to wake up Hinata. But this time she seemed to be in a deep state of unconsciousness. Naruto had poked her and shook her but didn't get any results.

Naruto then got a bright idea, he stood a good distance away and shouted, "Hinata the last cinnamon roll is being sold right now!"

"WHAT?!" Hinata screamed as she shot straight up and grabbed the collar of Naruto's trenchcoat while giving him a crazed look.

"Where is it?!" She screamed as she shook him like a madman...er, madwoman.

"Hey! You're awake!" Naruto exclaimed, completely ignoring the fact that Hinata was about to Jyuken him for the location of the imaginary cinnamon roll.

This seemed to jolt Hinata back to reality as she observed what was happening around her. Her hands were tightly gripping Naruto's coat, she was practically face to face with him, and the other students were staring at her with amused looks.

"EEP!" Was all Hinata could say before her face turned into a tomato and she fainted again. Naruto sighed as she fell forward into his arms.

"Probably not my best idea," Naruto muttered as he set Hinata against the tree before facing the rest of the class.

"Anyone got something smelly?" Naruto asked. Choji stepped forward and handed Naruto some smelling salts. Naruto thanked him and held the smelling salts under Hinata's nose. Hinata opened her eyes and shot up. She looked around and saw that everyone was staring at her, causing her to burn with embarrassment.

"You're not going to faint again are you?" Naruto asked. Hinata just shook her head, not trusting her voice at the moment.

"Okay kids, we're going back into the classroom so you can get your textbooks," Iruka announced as he ushered everyone inside. Naruto sighed as he walked back inside, this was an eventful day!"

* * *

**Chapter complete! First day at the Academy, closed! Naruto's mood: Tired!**

**Another chapter finished, I'm surprised at the rate I'm going, this is exactly like when I was making chapters for Kingdom Hearts, except these are a lot longer than the beginning few.**

**Now then, there's going to be one more prologue chapter chapter before we get to the graduation. The kids are going to be in their fourth year, and guess what? Hinata's going to have feelings for Naruto. Of course, there's going to be a flashback to help explain it.**

**I am deeply sorry if the bashing isn't what you were expecting. It's my first time bashing a character, so some help will be GREATLY appreciated. I'll even give you a digital cookie!**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	5. Chapter 5: Academy Days

Chapter 5: Academy Days

* * *

**Welcome back my wonderful fans! It's nice to see you all again. Of course, I can't see you, but I can see all the views that appear on my story stats.**

**This chapter is going to be the last one before we go and get into canon with the graduation. Everything's going to be different while still following the timeline. So expect a lot of surprises along the way, you may love them, hate them, or be completely indifferent.**

**One thing I forgot to mention last chapter, Ino's not going to be a major Sasuke fangirl. I have redemption plans for her because she doesn't deserve to be weak. Honestly, I like Ino, and it's not because she's a fellow blond. It's because I can tell that she would be better than Sakura if she was training during canon instead of chasing an emo. So she's going to be a better character in this story.**

**To answer a few reviews that need a public answer:**

**Guest 1: I don't care if you hate this story just because I bash some characters. It's MY story so I can write it however I want. If I want to bash a character then I will. If you don't like it, then don't be a d*** and rant about it and leave.**

**Guest 2: I may have made a couple of you confused with my wording of the pairing. But it's a Naruto/Hinata/Fuu pairing. Naruto is NOT bisexual, and he does NOT love himself. It's just a relationship between these three people.**

**ssgojira: Fuu's going to be introduced in the Chunin Exam arc. I'm crying on the inside because of how long it's going to be till she appears! But good things happen to people who wait.**

**Now that we're done, let's start this party!**

* * *

(Konoha-Ten Years After Kyuubi Attack)

It was Naruto's fourth year in the Academy and he was highly bored with it. He honestly thought that he just went to a regular school for civilians half the time with all of these boring subjects. It was killing him on the inside!

Naruto sighed as he looked around the classroom and observed his classmates. He noted how they had all changed in their own way.

Shino didn't really change all that much, except he had gotten taller. Naruto was able to become one of Shino's good friends after he had just brushed a bug off of his shoulder instead of squishing it like most of the other kids. This lead to Shino approaching him and questioning his actions, where Naruto told him that the bug wasn't bothering him so there was no need to crush it. Shino also accepted the fact that Naruto hated wasps, a hatred they deeply shared.

Naruto was able to become a good friend with Choji. He was able to connect with the Akimichi because of their love to eat. Currently, their ramen showdown had them tied at 18 bowls, and they were determined to outdo each other.

Becoming Shikamaru's friend was fairly easy, all he had to do was spend a day with him and do some cloud watching. It also helped that they played a few Shogi games every once in a while. Naruto always fumed when he couldn't beat Shikamaru, which was every time.

Ino also became one of Naruto's friends after a certain incident. The young Yamanaka was being teased about her lack of Taijutsu skill and was on the verge of tears. Naruto, hating to see anyone bullied, stepped in and defended her. After he drove the bullies away the two blonds talked for a while. They found out that they each had a hobby in gardening. Naruto had decided on adding a few flowers in his appartment to make it seem more homey. Ino had offered to give him help once in a while and they become friends after a while.

Kiba...was difficult. Naruto had tried to become his friend, but the Inuzuka didn't want to because of his standing in the class. Naruto was in the middle, but Kiba was towards the bottom, close to the position of the dead last. His pride wouldn't let him accept it and he tried to surpass Naruto everyday, only to fail most of the time. At least Akamaru liked the Uzumaki.

Sasuke was one of the people Naruto couldn't connect with. After the Uchiha Massacre, where Itachi, Sasuke's brother, had killed the entire clan save for him, Sasuke fell into a state of being the lone wolf. He never wanted to associate with anyone, and belittled others for any small mistake. Naruto wanted to become his friend because he knew about what it felt like to be alone, but gave up trying after dealing with the emo's attitude for a while.

Then there was Sakura, Sakura Haruno, daughter of Mebuki Haruno of the Civilian Council. She had hated Naruto with a passion after the very first day they started the Academy. Naruto believed that it was because he had tied with Sasuke after their first match, but knew that it was also becuase of all the lies her parents had told her. He had met the Haruno's, and knew that they hated him with a passion. He knew because they threw everything they had at him when he walked in front of their house, even the kitchen sink!

And finally, there was Hinata, Naruto's first friend. She had gotten better with her training with the Hyuuga's and with her confidence. Naruto had found it strange that she would blush and stutter a lot when he was around, more than usual, but couldn't figure it out for the life of him. He had remembered the day when her strange behavior had started so clearly...

* * *

(Flashback-Two Years Ago)

Naruto and Hinata were let out of the Academy for the day and where about to go to a dango shop to celebrate passing their test. The two kids hadn't even left the Academy when trouble seemed to find them.

"Why are you still in the Academy Hinata-_sama_?" a voice asked from behind them, laced with disgust. The two turned around to see Neji Hyuuga, Hinata's cousin who Naruto had the _pleasure_ of meeting when he went to the Hyuuga compound once. Their first meeting was..._pleasent_.

"N-Neji-nii-san," Hinata said as he glared at her, making her flinch. Naruto then stepped in front of Hinata and gave Neji a glare of his own.

"What do you want teme?" Naruto asked.

"I'm just wondering why a weakling like her is still trying to be a ninja," Neji said as he crossed his arms. "There is no hope for someone as weak as her in this world. Fate has decreed it."

Naruto scoffed and said, "Fate, smate, none of that destiny stuff is real."

Neji glared at him and said, "Those are the words of a fool who doesn't know his place in life. Hinata-sama will always be weak and worthless."

"It's because of her kindness isn't it?" Naruto asked.

Neji nodded and said, "Yes, her compassion for others will be her undoing."

Naruto closed his eyes and said, "I don't believe so, Hinata-chan's kindness is her strength."

Hinata looked up at Naruto with awe as he continued, "She is kind because she is a caring person. She wants to help all of the people she meets, even if it hurts her in the process. Hinata-chan cares for you, but you just don't want to realize it. So go, go and play with your beliefs of fate and all that junk. But when your fate fails you, don't come crying to me."

With that, Naruto took Hinata's hand in his own, making her blush, and left the Academy, leaving a fuming Neji behind them.

_'Naruto-kun,'_ Hinata thought,_ 'You are so kind to me, so helpful. You're someone I would want to spend my life with. You make me feel so calm and happy all the time. Maybe...I should talk to Kaa-chan about this.'_

Hinata just blushed and had a small dmile on her face as she and Naruto made their way to the dango shop.

* * *

(Flashback End)

Naruto was jolted out of his thoughts when Iruka and Mizuki walked inside the classroom. Each one was sporting a few faded bruises and a couple of shallow cuts.

"Iruka-sensei, what happened to you guys?" Naruto asked.

Iruka smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Well...me and Mizuki had a little spar yesterday. And we kinda went over board with all the fighting."

Over the years, Iruka had his opinion of Naruto changed after the Sandiame made him spend the day with the little Uzumaki. He had become nicer to him, except for when he was left to pay the bill at Ichiraku's whenever Iruka took Naruto there. While he was appaled at how much ramen Naruto could stuff into himself, his world was broken when he saw that HINATA could eat more ramen than Naruto.

"What's this 'we' business? You were the one who was throwing 20 kunai at me!" Mizuki protested.

"Which one of us threw two fuuma shuriken, at the same time?" Iruka shot back. Mizuki just blushed and turned around while whistling innocently. Everyone began to snicker at their sensei's argument.

Iruka then decided to get on with today's lesson, "Okay class, we're going to be going over our history of the Shodaime."

This had caught Naruto's attention. He always wanted to learn more about the Shodaime since he was the only Konoha shinobi that had seen the Jiongu in action. He was currently fighting for second place of his list of favorite Hokage's. First place going to his idol the Yondaime for saving the village from the Kyuubi. His Jiji was fighting the Shodaime for second place, he was the one who had given him his special gift.

"Can anyone tell me what noticable events happened with the Shodaime besides him founding the village?" Iruka asked. Sasike raised his hand so Iruka picked him.

"The Shodaime battled Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End where he defeated Madara, even after he summoned the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Sasuke said. All of his fangirls just gushed over everything he said.

"Correct, now can anyone tell me what else the Shodaime did?" Iruka asked. This time, Naruto raised his hand.

"He was able to drive off an S-Rank ninja from Takigakure when they tried to assassinate him," Naruto said.

"Where did you hear that? That's not in the textbooks," Iruka said.

"Naruto-baka probably made it up," Sakura huffed, causing everyone, even Sasuke, to stiffen before they sent glances to Hinata. Naruto was ready to restrain Hinata before she turned Sakura into paste, however, Iruka spoke up and drew everyone's attention to him.

"Naruto, can you tell us where you heard about that particular story? I haven't heard of it so I'm a little curious," Iruka said.

"Jiji told me," Naruto began, "he was talking about the Shodaime one day and mentioned that he was targeted by many nations. The most noticable one being an S-Rank ninja from Taki. He never told me the ninja's name though."

"Okay class, I'll go and ask the Hokage about it and tell you all tomorrow," Iruka informed them.

* * *

(Hyuuga Compound-Later)

The Academy had let out for the day and Naruto and Hinata were walking to the Hyuuga compound. Hinata's family had invited Naruto over for dinner, and even though he refused, Hitomi wouldn't take no for an answer.

Both kids had entered the compound, and after greeting the guards, headed for garden where they knew Hitomi would be. True to their thoughts, Hitomi was relaxing in the garden with a baby Hanabi in her lap.

There was a big scare when Hanabi was born, Hitomi was starting to lose too much blood and was on the verge of death. But thanks to the efforts of Tsunade, she was able to pull through. She had to take it easy for a while, but is currently in good health.

"H-hello Kaa-chan, H-Hanabi-chan," Hinata greeted.

"Hina! Nato!" Hanabi said as she waved to the two. Naruto just sighed, he would never be able to get her to learn to correctly pronounce his name.

"Hello Hinata-chan, Naruto-kun," Hitomi said as she stood up.

"Learn my name!" Naruto yelled at Hanabi. The four year old just giggled in response.

"Nato!" She giggled, causing Hinata and Hitomi to do the same. Naruto just hung his head as a cloud of depression began to rain on him.

"Come on _Nato-kun_ why don't you tell us about your day?" Hitomi teased. Naruto looked at her in horror while Hinata just fell to the floor laughing.

"W-would you li-like to be called N-Nato-kun, o-or Fi-Fishcake-kun?" Hinata asked while holding in her laughter.

"Not you too Hinata-chan!" Naruto wailed. None of the women could take it anymore and they fell to the ground laughing.

"Something amusing happen?" Hiashi asked as he was drawn outside by the laughter.

"Tell them to stop making fun of me!" Naruto pleaded.

Hiashi just smirked and said, "Now ladies, it's not nice to make fun of Naruto-san's name." All of the women just stared at him while Naruto grinned in triumph.

"Without inviting me to witness it happening," Hiashi finished. Naruto just stared at him in shock while the females just fell back into a laughing mess. After everyone recovered, they looked around to see Naruto found him over by a shrub wallowing in depression.

"S-sorry Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she saw the depressed blond.

"It's fine Hinata-chan," Naruto told her as he stood up. "I was just playing around with you all!"

Hiashi sighed and said, "I should have known, that prankster side of yours is getting more mischevious each day."

"What can I say? Pranking is fun!" Naruto exclaimed with a large grin.

"As long as you don't prank my family, meaning me, my wife, and daughters, then I give you free reign," Hiashi said. Naruto just gave him a smile while there was an mischevious glint in his eye.

* * *

(Next Day)

Naruto slid into his desk with Hinata on his right, Shikamaru and Choji behind him, and Shino and Ino in front of him. He was able to get Shino to become a little bit social with the group, it wasn't much, but progress is progress. He also managed to get Ino over her little bit of fear for the Aburame. She was fine as long as his bugs didn't crawl onto her without her permission.

"So Iruka-sensei, did Jiji tell you about the Taki shinobi?" Naruto asked when Iruka and Mizuki walked inside.

"Yes he did," Iruka said. "I must say, you helped me get a good history lesson Naruto." Iruka smiled at the blond, who pumped his fist into the air in triumph.

"What did Hokage-sama tell you about that guy anyway?" Choji asked while munching on a bag of chips.

Iruka took a deep breath and began, "Hokage-sama told me as much as he could remember since the incident happened when he was only a little older than you guys. Takigakure had sent an S-Rank ninja to assassinate the Shodaime, one who was able to use the five basic elements of ninjutsu tirelessly. The Shodaime defeated him easily and demanded compensation from Taki."

"Wow, who knew that the Shodaime was such a popular guy," Ino commented.

"Well he DID create the first Hidden Village and help make the basics for the shinobi system," Shikamaru pointed out.

Iruka nodded and said, "Very good Shikamaru, seems like you've been studying really well."

"Not really, I just remember that particular sentence from one of your boring lectures," Shikamaru said, earning a few laughs from the class.

"Okay, all of you be quiet," Mizuki ordered, getting everyone to shut up. "Now let's get started on today's lesson. What did we have planned again?"

"We're supposed to go over the history of the Senju Clan," Iruka said as he dug through his desk and pulled out a textbook.

"Isn't that the clan where the first two Hokage's come from?" Naruto asked.

Iruka nodded and said, "Yes, the Senju clan which was one of the two clans that helped create the village along with the Uchiha Clan."

So the class went over their Konoha history for the rest of the day before they had a break for lunch and did Shuriken training.

* * *

(Training Ground 27)

Naruto had jus gotten out of the Academy and was currently entering his private training area. He would have gone with Hinata again, but this was one of three days that he had dedicated to training with the Jiongu. As he entered the training area, he saw that there was someone else there.

"Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. His teacher was leaning against one of the trees as he observed the many cuts in another one.

"Well, Hokage-sama told me that you should clue me in on something since you seem to trust me so much," Iruka said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Naruto said, lying through his teeth.

"Actually Naruto-kun, I think that you can let Iruka know," Hiruzen said as he entered the clearing.

"Are you sure Jiji? I mean, he never liked me in the beginning," Naruto said, making Iruka guilty at the way he treated Naruto.

"Don't worry about it, if I hear the villagers talking about your abilities, then we both will know that Iruka is to blame," Hiruzen said.

Naruto sighed and said, "Okay Iruka-sensei, whatever you see here, you are not to tell anyone. Got it?"

Iruka, surprised by Naruto's seriousness of the moment, agreed. Narutro sighed and shrugged off his trenchcoat and showed Iruka the stitches on both of his forearms and the one that ran down his arm. Iruka was shocked to say the least and even more so when he saw the mask attatched to Naruto's back.

"W-what happened to you?!" Iruka cried.

"Nothing," Naruto said, "this is something that I've had since I was born." So Naruto told Iruka the story that the Sandaime told him, causing the Academy teacher to look at the Hokage in confusion. The aged leader just sent Iruka a look that he'll explain it later.

"So what is...this?" Iruka asked as he motioned to the stitches.

Naruto just grinned and held out his arm. Iruka watched in amazement as crimson threads come out of Naruto's skin and began to wiggle around in the air. Naruto then launched his arm at the tree and pulled off an apple that was hanging on the branch.

"Remember the Taki ninja that attacked the Shodaime?" Naruto asked. Iruka noded so he continued. "This was the special ability that he had."

"But Hokage-sama told me that he was only able to use all five elements," Iruka pointed out.

"I did, but that was one of the abilities that was granted to him by this special power," Hiruzen said.

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked.

"I can take the hearts of my enemies and use their elemental affinities," Naruto said. "But I can only use their primary affinity according to the scroll."

"That's a little creepy," Iruka said.

Hiruzen chuckled and said, "Just wait for the next part. You'll probably be in shock."

Iruka just looked at the Sandaime before looking back at Naruto. The boy had placed his hands in the Tora seal and began to concentrate.

"Jiongu: Activate!" Naruto cried as the mask on his back began to jump, pulling the skin with it. The stitching along Naruto's back opened up and his fire heart jumped out after morphing into its nine-tailed fox form. Iruka was about to panic, but a quick reassuring glace from Hiruzen was all he needed to keep calm.

"Is this another ability of the...Jiongu?" Iruka asked.

"Yup! I can make bodies for the hearts I get with my threads, isn't that awesome! Dattebayo!" Naruto cried as he grined.

"This is a really interesting ability. But can it help you with making a Bunshin?" Iruka asked with a smirk. Naruto just dropped his head in shame as he remembered that was his worst jutsu.

"What's this about the Bunshin no Jutsu?" Hiruzen asked.

"It's my worst jutsu! Everytime I try it, it fails!" Naruto wailed.

"I keep telling you to put more chakra into it!" Iruka yelled.

"I put as much chakra into it as possible!" Naruto yelled back.

Before the two could continue yelling, the sound of someone face palming could be heard. The two looked over to see the Hokage with a red handprint on his face as he looked at the two with annoyance.

"Naruto, instead of trying to put all your chakra into just ONE clone, try to make many clones," Hiruzen said. "Try to make at least twenty."

Naruto looked at the old man with confusion but complied. He began to focus his chakra in the way he was supposed to when making clones, but instead of trying to make just one illusion, he focused on making at least twenty clones.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto cried as the small clearing they were in was enveloped in a large cloud of white smoke. After a lot of coughing and hacking from everyone who had inhaled some of it, they opened their eyes and the two younger males dropped their jaws in shock.

The field was filled to the brim with Naruto Bunshin's. There were Bunshins in the trees, hanging off of tree branches, and there were even Bunshins that were standing on top of one another.

"As I thought," Hiruzen muttered.

"But...how? He can't even make ONE!" Iruka cried.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "The answer's simple, Naruto has more chakra than half the village. So you when you kept telling him to put more chakra in the jutsu, you were unintentionally making him overload the jutsu."

"HA! I knew I was awesome!" Naruto cried as he ran around the field cheering.

Iruka put his head down in shame and said, "Maybe we should check the chakra levels of students in the year we start going over chakra."

"I'll be sure to mention that in the next council meeting," Hiruzen said as he watched Naruto cheer with amuzement.

"Naruto-kun, come here for a moment," Hiruzen said. Naruto jogged over to the Sandaime after he dispelled the Bunshin and cleared the field of them.

"What's up Jiji?" Naruto asked as he grinned at him.

The Hokage smiled and said, "Since you seem to have an abundance of chakra, I think I'll teach you a new jutsu." He held up a hand to stop the boy from celebrating. "However, I'll only teach you this jutsu if you can make at least seven Bunshin."

Naruto grinned and said, "Get ready to teach me a new jutsu Jiji!"

"I'll be waiting, it'll be a nice break from all the paperwork that I have to do," Hiruzen said with a chuckle.

"Now then, I believe it's time I got back to my office," the Hokage said, preparing to do a Shunshin.

"Wait Jiji!" Naruto said, preventing him from leaving.

"Is something wrong?" Iruka asked as he watched the blond with worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, I seem to know a jutsu, but I've never known about it before," Naruto said.

"Maybe you're starting to activate another part of the Jiongu," Hiruzen told him. When Naruto looked at him in confusion he continued. "You are able to learn the jutsu that the person who's heart you took knows. My thoughts are that since you've matured some more mentally, you are starting to discover them."

"So I should start to know more jutsu now?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, you will be discovering that you know jutsu that you originally didn't know," Hiruzen explained. "Promise me that you will be careful with any new jutsu, proper practice with them will help you to use them better."

"Don't worry Jiji, I promise," Naruto said as he gave the Sandaime a reassuring grin. The Hokage then vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving just Naruto and Iruka in the clearing.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei," Naruto began, "does this mean that if I want to make just one clone, I just try to put in as little chakra as possible?"

Iruka nodded and said, "Yes, and I'm sorry, if I had realized that you had more chakra than normal, I would have been able to properly help you."

Naruto waved him off and told him, "It's fine. The important thing is that we know the problem now."

"You know something Naruto," Iruka started, "I envy you."

"You envy ME?" Naruto asked. "Why would you be jealous of me?"

Iruka smiled at him and said, "Because you're able to look on the bright side of everything. So how about I treat you to some ramen as a form of apology?"

Now Naruto wouldn't accept any type of apology unless it was an oral one, but when it came to apology ramen, all his morals went out the window, especially if he was the one that didn't have to pay for any of it.

"YAY! Ramen, ramen, let's go get some ramen!" Naruto sang as he began to skip towards Ichiraku's. Iruka followed him, already feeling his wallet getting lighter. He would have to hold ANOTHER funeral for it tonight.

* * *

**Finished! Though I am a little disappointed by how this chapter's kinda shorter than usual. Oh well, nothing important happened anyway.**

**I'll admit, I didn't have a lot of inspiration for this chapter like I did for the others. So this one was a sort of filler. But that's going to change for next chapter since we're going to get into canon!**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	6. Chapter 6: Graduation and Revelation

Chapter 6: Graduation and Revelation

* * *

**Yo! How's everyone doing today? Hope you're all excited for the next chapter, cause we're now starting canon!**

**There's going to be some changes to how everything goes, obviously, as we go along the plotline. So things might leave you shocked, surprised, sad, happy, or whatever else you are feeling at the moment.**

**On a side note, everyone except Naruto is in their regular clothing. Meaning what they wore in Pre-Shippuden. There is no need for any clothing changes at the moment.**

**Now sit back, relax, and enjoy that bag of popcorn that I know you're eating. On with the show!**

* * *

(Konoha-Twelve Years After Kyuubi Attack)

For once in his life, Naruto Uzumaki woke up before his alarm clock, something that has been prophesized to bring about the end of the world. Besides him not eating ramen. Of course, it may have to do with the fact that he was going to graduate from the Academy today and earn his headband alongside the rest of his classmates.

Naruto, getting more and more excited, jumped out of bed and ran out to his balcony where he held out his arms and felt the cool breeze touch over his skin. After observing the rising sun illuminate Konoha some more, he walked back in to see that his breakfast was already made, and Fox sitting next to the table.

Naruto grinned as he looked at Fox, he had finally found a way to make his heart have a little bit of a personality. It was difficult, but being Naruto, he didn't give up until he got something. Thankfully, it was something positive

All it took was installing a bunch of commands into the threads that were connected to the heart. It was a long and tiring process, mostly due to the fact that he wanted Fox to act like a fox and have a little human qualities, like cleaning and such.

After eating his cereal, he called Fox back into his body. He had decided to sleep with his heart out, mostly because it was very uncomfortable when he went on his back. Naruto then put on his trenchcoat and walked out the door. He then made his way to the Hyuuga Compound.

* * *

(Hyuuga Compound)

"Aren't you early Naruto-san?" one of the guards asked as he and his partner watched the young Uzumaki approach.

"Yeah, I'm just a little excited today," Naruto told them. "Today's the day I become a ninja!"

"Good luck then, we hope that you make it," the other guard said as he gave the blond a small smile.

After walking past the gate guards he was waiting by the front porch of the house that Hinata's family stayed. He dozed off after a while of waiting as he sat on a small bench.

He groggily awoke sometime later to an annpying tapping on his shoulder. After getting up and rubbing away the sleep from his eyes, he looked around to see that nobody was within his sight.

"BOO!" A small white sheet with eyeholes yelled as it popped up in front of Naruto.

"GHOST!" Naruto screamed as he jumped into the air and grabbed onto the roof of the porch, digging a few tendrils into it to keep him up there.

Suddenly, the sheet began to giggle beforeit was pulled up to reveal a smiling Hanabi.

"Got you Nato-nii-san," Hanabi said while giggling. Naruto groaned while he separated himself from the roof and landed in front of the giggling girl while sporting an evil smile.

"So little Hanabi-chan likes to laugh hmm?" Naruto thought out loud as he took small steps towards the young Hyuuga. Hanabi's eyes went wide as she started to back up, realizing what Naruto was about to do. However, she found that she couldn't move and looked down to see that Naruto had sent some threads to wrap around her legs while she was distracted.

"N-Nato-nii-san, I-I'll be a good girl," Hanabi said as she felt some more threads wrap around her arms and hold them up while some others wiggled slowly down her arms and into her shirt.

"Naruto-kun, a-as much as I-I would hate t-to ruin your and Hanabi-chan's f-fun, we really need t-to go to the A-Academy," Hinata said as she stepped out onto the porch while slightly hiding behind the door.

Naruto sighed and retracted the threads, letting Hanabi go as she ran up to her sister and hugged her.

"Thank you Nee-chan! Nato-nii-san was going to make me too tired for training again!" Hanabi said.

"Maybe you should remember that it's not nice to play with people's fears," Hiashi said as he appeared behind the sisters. "Unless it's someone you don't like."

Naruto then put on a triumphant grin and said, "Yeah! Maybe I'll put on an octopus costume and wait for you to wake up."

"If you did that, you'll probably end up with a Jyuken palm strike to the stomach," Hiashi pointed out. "Hanabi is one of those people who attack when scared. Unlike you who decides to go and inspect roofs."

Naruto just gave Hiashi a small glare before he huffed and turned around. Hiasho just chuckled and ushered both him and Hinata out to the Acameny and sent Hanabi inside .

"You know you want a son," Hitomi said as she gave him a small smile.

"I did, after Hinata, but I'm happy with my daughters," Hiashi told her. "Besides, it's entertaining to mess with Naruto once in a while. It's like watching Kushina all over again."

Hitomi giggled and said, "Except there's no pile of boys who can't keep their mouths closed every two blocks."

Hiashi groaned and said, "Don't remind me, I was in one of those piles at least three times a week."

"Hizashi was the smarter of you two," Hitomi said. "I remember the amusement on his face when he would have to drag you home after running into Kushi-chan."

"The elders kept belittling me for being beaten by 'a wothless nobody' every time it happened," The Hyuuga Head muttered.

"Remind me why they're still here?" Hitomi asked.

"Because The Stick that they all have seems to grant them with extended life," Hiashi told her.

* * *

(Academy)

Naruto and Hinata entered the classroom to see that they were still a little early. The only people there were Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, and a few other kids who were unimportant. The duo took their seats in front of Shikamaru and Choji. As usual, the Nara was sleeping and the Akimichi was chomping on a bag of chips.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Naruto greeted as he sat down.

"Hi Naruto, Hinata, everything's fine, I'm just a little nervous about this exam," Choji said, "I mean, what if I fail?"

"Troublesome, you're not going to fail Choji," Shikamaru said as he laid his head on his arms and looked at his...round friend. "All you need to do is stay calm and do your best."

"Yeah! What Shikamaru said, Dattebayo!" Naruto agreed.

"Y-You'll do f-fine Choji-kun," Hinata reassured the Akimichi.

Choji visibly relaxed and said, "Thanks guys, I really needed that.

While the three friends were talking, several more people walked into the room after them. Including Sasuke and Kiba, though the latter was sporting a small bruise on his cheek.

"Woah, what happened to you man?" Naruto asked.

"I got into a argument with one of my clan members, and it kinda got to the point where we were throwing punches," Kiba explained as he rubbed the back of his head, making sure not to knock Akamaru off of his spot.

Naruto was able to get Kiba to warm up to him and got the dog-lover to join him and his friends whenever they hung out.

"What were you guys arguing about?" Choji asked.

Kiba sighed adsaid, "Which dog food would be better for our partners."

"Really? Fighting over something like that is so troublesome," Shikamaru said as he readjusted his head so it was facing Kiba, but still laying down.

It was at that moment that the whole building began to shake, causing everyone to grab onto something to keep steady.

"What is this?! An earthquake!?" Kiba cried as he held onto the desk for dear life.

"I don't think so! It doesn't seem like a normal one!" Choji yelled as he tried to keep himself steady.

"How would you know what a real earthquake is and what isn't?!" Naruto cried.

"I'll tell you later!" Choji yelled as he grabbed a flying bag of chips with his teeth. Hinata had then lost her grip on the desk after another violent shake and was about to hit her head on the floor when Naruto reached out and grabbed her by her midriff and held her tightly against his body. If she wasn't so frightened at the moment, she might have fainted with happy thoughts.

"FIRST!"

Suddenly, the door flew open and the shaking stopped. Everyone looked over to see that Ino and Sakura were arguing about who got to the Academy first, the winner getting the right to sit next to Sasuke. Everyone sighed, relieved that it wasn't a real earthquake, and annoyed that the two females had practically gave them some heart attacks.

"I almost had a heart attack," Naruto sighed. He then realized that he was holding Hinata next to him, who had fainted when she realized her position. Naruto placed her back into her seat, but if one looked closely, they would have seen a small blush on his cheeks.

_'Wow, she's so soft and-NO! BAD THOUGHTS!'_ Naruto shook his head to get his head clear.

Shikamaru sighed and sank back into his seat. "I can't believe they made me do something as troublesome as preparing for an earthquake."

"Yeah, saving your own life is so troublesome," Kiba told him while rolling his eyes, getting some of the people nearby to chuckle. Shikamaru just shrugged it off and went back to sleep with a snore.

Naruto, deciding to wake Hinata up, took out one of the emergancy cinnamon buns and waved it underneath Hinata's nose. Her eyes popped open and, quick as lightning, snatched the item out of Naruto's hand before devouring it.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Choji joked as he watched the ordeal. He would have tried to take the cinnamon bun before Naruto waved it under the Hyuuga's nose, but remembered the last time he tried that. The Jyuken is something that's very painful!

"EVERYONE SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Iruka yelled as he walked into the room and used his Big Head Jutus to get everyone's attention. After everyone sat down, Iruka took his place in the front of the room and addressed the class.

"Today we're going to be holding the graduation exams to see who is able to become a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. The exam will be conducted in four parts, a written test, kunai and shuriken, a taijutsu endurance test, and performing the three basic jutsu that all shinobi know how to use. We'll begin once Mizuki decideds to get here with the written test."

Naruto was only a little scared, written tests weren't his forte, nor were they his worst. It was just that he perfered to do active works instead of writing things down.

A few minutes later, Mizuki came into the classroom with a small box in his arms.

"Sorry I'm late Iruka, I had misplaced the box so I tore up the room looking for it," Mizuki said as he rubbed his head sheepishly.

Iruka waved him off and said, "Just hand me the box so I can pass them out." Mizuki nodded and handed the box to Iruka while cursing on the inside. he was supposed to pass them out so he could place a genjutsu on the demon brats test!

Aftet the written test was over, **(Seriously, who cares about written tests? The only one that matters is the one in the Chunin Exams!) **everyone went outside to prepare for the next test. The one where they would throw kunai and shuriken at the target and try to earn as much points as possible.

"Okay, I'll call you guys up alphabetical order, so Shino's up first," Iruka said as he grabbed a clipboard to keep score.

Shino walked up to the starting point and grabbed ten kunai and shuriken. He first threw the kunai, half of them hitting a bullseye, and two of them hiting the target ring. He then moved onto the next target and threw his shuriken, six had hit their bullseye and one had hit the target.

"Good work Shino, next up is, Choji," Iruka said as he marked down Shino's score.

Choji walked up and grabbed his own set of kunai and shuriken. For the kunai, three of them hit the bullseye while three more hit the target. With the shuriken, four of them hit the bullseye and two more hit the target."

"Nice job, next is Sakura," Iruka announced.

"WATCH ME SASUKE-KUN!" The pink bans-I mean Sakura screeched as she grabbed the weaponry and began to throw them. Everyone held their ears to prevent them from bleeding.

Sakura prepared to throw the kunai and-wait, why am I telling you guys about her? Who cares, she just passed with the bare minimum that was needed to pass. Now let's move onto the important people.

"Next is Hinata," Iruka said, not really paying attention to Sakura, thet was until she almost took off a chunk of his hair with a kunai. He was about ready to fail her for almost ruining his fashion, but was able to keep himself under control.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, you'll do great!" Naruto reassured the timid heiress as she approached the throwing point. Hinata took a deep breath and grabbed her set of kunai and shuriken. For the kunai, all of them hit her target while seven of them hit the bullseye. With the shuriken, only eight of them hit the target, and all of them hit the bullseye.

"Great job Hinata!" Iruka praised. Hinata blushed under his praise and walked back to where her friends were. As she looked down to hide her blush, she bumped into someone, and looked up to see the smiling face of Naruto.

"That was great Hinata-chan!" Naruto said. Hinata turned into a tomato and stuttered a thanks as she turned away and watched the others as they did their exam.

"Kiba, you're up next," Iruka said as he watched the young Inuzuka race towards the starting point and grabbed a set of kunai and shuriken.

Kiba did decently with the weapons, considering the fact that his clan likes to be up close and personal when fighting. He got five bullseyes with the kunai, and three hits in the target area. He got four bullseye with the shuriken and had two hits in the target area.

"Good job Kiba, next is Shikamaru.

"Troublesome, let's get this over with," Shikamaru muttered as he trudged forward. He grabbed the set and began to throw them. He got three bullseyes and three hits with the kunai, and five bullseyes and two hits with the shuriken. The only reason he put any effort into it was because he didn't want to have his score anywhere near Sakura's.

"Good work Shikamaru, Sasuke, you're next," Iruka said as he marked down the Nara's score.

"Hn," Sasuke said as he walked forward and grabbed his set. He threw all of his weapons and got all bullseyes with each one.

"Excellent Sasuke!" Iruka praised, but he couldn't be heard over all of the screaming that all of Sasuke's fangirls did.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as walked back to his corner to fantasize about killing Itachi. **(The only reason Sasuke won was because Itachi was sick and he didn't want to kill his little brother.)**

"Naruto, it's your turn," Iruka said as he watched the young blond step forward.

"Yosh! I'm up, Dattebayo!" Naruto cried as he grabbed his set of kunai and shuriken. for the junai, eight of them hit the bullseye and the other two hit close to it. Nine of his shuriken hit the bullseye and the last one missed when it bounced off of another one, but it still hit the target.

"Great job Naruto!" Iruka said as he watched the blond cheer.

"T-that was g-g-great Naruto-kun!" Hinata softly exclaimed.

"It was wasn't it?" Naruto asked with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, but you didn't get the best score," Choji pointed out.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and said, "So? As long as I pass, it's good enough for me."

"Last one up is Ino," Iruka said. The young Yamanaka walked up and grabbed her set of kunai and shuriken. When she threw her kunai, she was able to get five bullseye and two hits in the target. For the shuriken, she got five bullseye and three hits.

"That's it for this part of the exam," Iruka said. "Now let's move onto the training area for the taijutsu portion of the exam. Everyone started to move towards the taijutsu field where Mizuki was finishing up some stretches.

"Alright, this exam is going to be fairly simple," Iruka said as he stood in front of the group. "You guys are going to have matches against Mizuki here. The goal is to last at least two minutes against him. Once the two minutes are up, you can quit. Now let's get started.

**(Because I'm lazy, we're going to skip everyone and go straight to Naruto. Why? Because I'm the author and I say so!)**

"Okay Naruto,you're up," Iruka said as he watched Sasuke stalk off of the field and go back into his little fantasy world where he stood on top of twenty Itachi corpses.

"Let's get started, Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped into the field and faced Mizuki.

Mizuki smirked and said, "Well aren't you confident." _'This is going to be easy. All I have to do is knock him out of the ring.'_

Naruto grinned and got into his personal stance before he stared down Mizuki.

Mizuki started off the match by dashing towards Naruto and aiming a ounch towards his head. Naruto ducked underneath it and threw a fist towards Mizuki's side. The Academy teacher retreated to gain some distance, but Naruto raced forward to keep him from getting any room.

Naruto threw a punch towards Mizuki's stomach, and the Chunin turned to the side to let Naruto's hit fly past him while he went to knee the student in the stomach. The hit sent Naruto back towards the edge of the ring.

"Oi, Mizuki-sensei, that was a little hard," Naruto said as he hunched over a little.

"Well, you can expect your enemies to hit you harder when you're out on a mission," Mizuki replied.

Naruto smirked and said, "Then let's keep going, this little thing isn't going to stop me."

Naruto raced forward and aimed a kick at Mizuki. The Chunin grabbed the outstretched leg and proceeded to throw Naruto away. The Uzumaki landed dangerously close to te edge and almost fell out until he caught himself and regained his balance.

Mizuki then charged towards Naruto and threw a punch towards him in an attempt to send him out of the ring. Naruto twisted his body and went to punch him out of the ring.

"Time!" Iruka yelled as his watch signalled two minutes. Naruto jumped back and wiped the small amout of sweat from his brow.

"Whew! That was intense Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto said. Mizuki nodded his head, but was screaming in anger on the inside. Another chance was lost.

Later, once everyone had finished with their taijutsu matches, Iruka had moved everyone inside were they would finish up with the ninjutsu exam. They would wait in one room before being called into a separate room for testing.

Naruto was standing in front of Iruka and Mizuki where they sat at the desk with a small row of headbands with them. Despite his confidence, Naruto was slightly fidgeting with a little nervousness in the back of his head.

"Okay Naruto, you just need to perform the three basic ninjutsu," Iruka began, "meaning that you have to do a Henge, Kawarimi, and make at least three Bunshin. Got it?"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Naruto cried, making the two Academy instructors chuckle.

"If only we could grade him on his confidence," Mizuki muttered, keeping up his nice guy act.

"First, Henge into the Sandaime and act like him for a few seconds," Iruka said.

"Got it, Henge!" Naruto transformed into Hiruzen Sarutobi perfectly and stared down at the two instructors.

"Iruka," the transformed Naruto began in Hiruzen's voice, "you should really think about becoming a Jounin-sensei one of these days. You too Mizuki." After that, Naruto poofed back into himself while sporting a wide grin.

"Good job Naruto," Mizuki said while straining his smile to make it look sincere.

"Okay, next we'll do the Kawarimi, ready?" Iruka asked as he prepared to throw a blunted kunai at the blond.

"Yup, let me have it!" Naruto said. Iruka chucked the kunai at Naruto and it hit the blond in the chest. Naruto's eyes went wide before white smoke erupted around him and revealed himself to be a wooden log. The real Naruto came out of the closet that was behind where he was standing.

"Praise the log," Naruto said while holding his hands in a small prayer.

"Amen," Both Iruka and Mizuki said as they did a small prayer as well.

"Now I just have to do some Bunshin's right?" Naruto asked.

Iruka nodded and said, "You just have to do at least three."

"Okay, here I go! Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed as he made the hand seal and a cloud of smoke blinded the room.

"We really need to do something about how much smoke you use," Iruka said as he waved the smoke out the window. Once the smoke was clear, Iruka looked back to see five Naruto's standing before him.

"Excellent Naruto! You're now an official ninja of Konoha!" Iruka praised as he handed Naruto his headband.

"HAHA! I did it Dattebayo!" Naruto cheered as he grabbed his headband and ran out the room.

_'Oh great, now I'm going to have to change my plan,'_ Mizuki thought as he closed his eyes in frustration, Iruka oblivious to his 'friends' thoughts.

Naruto ran out of the room and raced out of the building to see all the people who had graduated and were showing off to their parents. As he walked over to where Hinata and her guard Ko would be waiting, he heard people whispering, about him.

"I can't believe they let that THING graduate."

"How could they let it becomemore powerful? After all, he's-"

"Quiet! You know it's forbidden to talk about it."

Naruto just shrugged off the comments and walked over to where his blue-haired friend was. Hinata beamed upon seeing Naruto with a headband around his forehead. Naruto saw the headband that Hinata had around her neck, and in the back of his head, thought that she looked cute with it like that.

"I-I'm so glad that y-you passed Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she gave him a soft smile.

"Hehe, yeah, now we can go on missions and become awesome ninja," Naruto said.

"Naruto-san," Ko began, "Hiashi-sama and Hitomi-sama have invited you to join them for dinner in celebration of your graduation."

"Really? That sounds great!" Naruto said as he smiled brightly.

* * *

(Later That Night-Training Ground 27)

Naruto had left the Hyuuga Compound after a large, filling dinner and decided to visit his private training grounds for a small trip down memory lane. He remembered making all those slash marks and drilling holes in the trees and chuckled as he remembered every time he got frusterated when it wouldn't work. But now he was highly skilled with his Jiongu, and there was still so much to learn.

"He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard some fighting in the distance. Now being at one of Konoha's training grounds, this wasn't anything unusual, but it was strange for people to be out here at this time of the day.

Naruto ran through the woods and crawled through some bushes when he saw who was there. In front of him was Mizuki and Iruka. The former was twirling a giant shuriken in one hand while another one was strapped to his back. Iruka was pinned to the tree by several shuriken, next to him was a large scroll.

"Why are you betraying us Mizuki?!" Iruka yelled. Naruto was shocked, one of his instructors was betraying the village he had sworn to serve?

"Because Iruka, this village is falling to pieces," Mizuki began. "The _wise_ Hokage lets a monster run free in our village and then has the nerve to tell us that it's a human like us!"

"You're delusional!" Iruka yelled.

"Maybe I am in your eyes, but your opinion won't matter when you're dead!" Mizuki yelled as he threw the shuriken he was twirling towards Iruka. Naruto jumped out of the bushes and caught the shuriken by the middle ring before throwing it away.

"N-Naruto?!" Iruka cried as he saw the blond appear in front of him.

"Iruka-sensei, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he kept his eye on Mizuki, who appeared to be surprised by Naruto's interference as well.

Mizuki got out of his shock and said, "Well what do we have here? The demon brat's decided to show up as well. Now I can blame you for Iruka's death before i kill you and get rid of your filth."

Naruto growled and said, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, remember it you teme!"

"Naruto, you have to get away from here!" Iruka yelled.

"I'm not going to leave you here Iruka-sensei," Naruto declared.

Mizuki smirked and said, "Say Naruto, do you want to know why everyone hates you?"

Naruto froze and looked at Mizuki with curious eyes, making the traitor almost laugh at how innocent the demon tried to appear.

"Don't do it Mizuki!" Iruka yelled. "It's forbidden!"

"You see, twelve years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village and was defeated by the Yondaime, who sacrificed himself in the process," Mizuki said.

Naruto looked at him and asked, "What does this have to do with anything?"

"After the attack, a law was made. A law that everyone except you knows about," Mizuki said.

"What law?" Naruto asked, almost afraid to find out.

"MIZUKI SHUT UP!" Iruka yelled in vain.

"A law that hid the fact that you are the Kyuubi reborn! Now die you damn fox!" Mizuki cried as he threw his last giant shuriken. Naruto was frozen in shock at the revelation and didn't even register what Mizuki just did. He then heard the sound of flesh being ripped and some blood falling on his face. Naruto looked up to the see the smiling face of Iruka.

"Hey," Iruka began while a small trail of blood trailed down his lips. "You alright...Naruto?"

It was at this time that Naruto realized that his sensei had ripped himself free and used his body to shield the blond.

"Iruka...sensei?" Naruto whispered as he shook in fear. "A-am I really the Kyuubi?"

"No," Iruka said as he shook his head, "you just contain it. I admit, I hate the Kyuubi, but I don't hate Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of Konoha!" With that statement, Iruka ripped out the shuriken that was in him and threw it to the side. Naruto was at tears at this point and a few had made their way down his cheeks.

"My my, how touching," Mizuki mocked. "Now let's get to the part where I kill you both already!" Mizuki then lunged forward, kunai in hand, and went to stab Iruka in the back of the head. However, he found that he couldn't move as soon as he got within five feet of the Chunin. He looked towards his arm and saw crimson threads wrapped around him. He followed the trail of them and was shocked when he saw them disappearing into Naruto's skin.

"If you EVER attack my sensei again, I'll kill you!" Naruto growled as his threads squirmed through the air.

"D-demon!" Mizuki yelled as he struggled to get away from the threads. Naruto threw the traitorous Chunin into a tree and began to stitch up the wound on Iruka's back. Once he was satisfied with his work, he turned around and watched as Mizuki trembled while holding a kunai in his direction.

"All traitors to Konoha must be killed," Naruto said in an emotionless voice as he took off his trenchcoat and handed it to Iruka, who took it and watched Naruto as he slowly walked forward to Mizuki.

"Jiongu: Activate!" Naruto shouted as he put his hands into the Tora seal. Fox had come out of his back and slowly walked towards Mizuki along with Naruto.

"Doton: Earth Flow Spears!" Mizuki yelled as he slammed his hands into the ground. A wave of rock-made spears shot out of the ground and made their way to Naruto and Fox. Both of the thread users jumped out of the way and landed in the trees where Naruto started to make several hand seals.

"Katon: Fire Bullet Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he and Fox began to shoot several small fireballs at Mizuki. The former Academy instructor jumped away and looked around frantically for his opponents. He threw a kunai into the tree where he saw a flash of crimson, but only ended up hitting the tree. He backed up against a tree and grabbed one of his giant shuriken that was nearby.

"Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he and Fox simultaneously blew out fireballs that were about their size. Mizuki jumped into the trees and landed on a branch when Fox leapt at him and tried to slice him with its claws. The traitor jumped back, only to be sent flying forward by Naruto who had kicked the traitor in the back. naruto landed in front of Mizuki, and Fox landed behind him.

"S-stay away!" Mizuki yelled as he held the giant shuriken out in front of him like a shield. Naruto just ignored himand held out his arms as several tendrils shot towards him and wrapped him up. But Mizuki then fell apart into mud.

"Iwa Bunshin," Naruto muttered as he looked around for Mizuki.

"Doton: Earth Fist!" Mizuki yelled as he appeared behind Naruto and attempted to slam his rock covered fist into the blonds head. Naruto was hit and crumpled into the ground before he erupted into smoke.

"W-what? Kage Bunshin!?" Mizuki exclaimed. He then jumped to the side as the real Naruto slammed his fist into the ground where he stood. Fox then blew out a Fireball at Mizuki once Naruto was out of its range.

"Doton: Doryuheki!" Mizuki slammed his hands on the ground and a wall of stone rose up and defended him from the fire.

"Jiongu: Threading Needles!" Naruto cried as he shot threads towards Mizuki and wrapped him up in them. This time, it was the real one that was captured.

"Let me go Kyuubi!" Mizuki yelled.

Naruto gave him a cold glare and said, "No, you're going to get what traitors deserve."

"Well said Naruto-kun." Everyone turned to see Hiruzen standing there along with Tsunade six ANBU with him.

"How long have you been here Jiji, Baa-chan?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade put a hand to his chin and said, "About the same time the Mizuki clone fell to pieces."

"Awww, you missed all of my cool jutsu," Naruto whined as he tightened his grip on Mizuki.

He then looked back over to his prisoner and asked, "Do you need this guy for interrogation or anything?"

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "No, he was foolish enough to write his plans out and failed to burn everything before he left his apartment. So we know who he was working for and that there was nobody else involved in this. He even wrote down the place that he was going to drop off the scroll at."

Naruto's face lightly lit up and he asked, "Does that mean that I can take it?"

"...Yes, Mizuki is now useless to us when it comes to information," Hiruzen said.

Naruto turned around and faced Mizuki with an unnerving smile on his face. Mizuki struggled harder to get away, but the threads were very tight.

Naruto raised his free arm and aimed it at Mizuki, or more precisely, his chest. Several threads shot out and impacted against Mizuki's chest before they began to dig into him. Mizuki let out screams of pain, but only Naruto and Iruka were affected. Naruto because this was only the second time he did it, and Iruka because Mizuki used to be his friend. But now that Iruka thought about it, Mizuki rarely acted friendly in the past.

Mizuki's screams stopped once the threads began to pull something out of him. First they ripped off his Chunin vest and part of his shirt before a moving object was hanging in the air. Once the threads disconnected from Mizuki, he dropped down to the ground, dead.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment as a pulse of blue chakra traveled up to the heart and engulfed it for a moment. He opened his eyes and said, "It's a Earth element. He Iruka-sensei, can you throw me the scroll in my coat pocket?"

Iruka, still stunned by the event, just nodded dumbly and threw Naruto the scroll. The Uzumaki opened it up and pressed his hand on the kanji for Earth and pushed some chakra into it. From the scroll came a squarish mask that had a slightly open mouth and yellow markings on it.

Naruto placed the mask on the heart and everyone watched as more crimson threads began to wrap around the heart and began to take the shape of a humanoid figure. The mass of threads fell to the floor and became a tall figure, about 7 feet high, with thick arms that had four fingered hands. Thick legs came from the bottom and allowed the creature to stand on its own. The mask settled on the middle of the chest, right between its large shoulders. **(I really need some of you people to draw for me. As I said before, on my profile,I am a horrible artist. Can someone please help me?)**

"Everyone, meet Titan!" Naruto introduced the crimson construct as it took a bow.

"Very interesting Naruto," Tsunade said as she inspected the creature. "I assume that it's going to be a defense-type for you?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "More or less. Depends on the type of ninja I fight."

Hiruzen was confused. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, remember Iruka-sensei saying the Water is weak to Earth, so I'll fight Water users with Titan since he'll be able to beat them easily."

Iruka laughed and said, "So you really DO remember my 'boring lectures', you brat!"

Naruto placed his hands behind his head and said, "Well, you do repeat them about three times a year."

Iruka blushed and looked away in embarrassment. The ANBU had taken Mizuki's body away for examination of any items on him, to see whether they had any connection to who he was originally working for.

"Good work Naruto, you'll receive a B-Rank payment for this later, I'll give it to you when you come in to take your picture for your I.D. Card," Hiruzen said. "ANBU, take Iruka to the hospital for proper treatment. Tsunade, go with them, I'll take Naruto to get some ramen. It's about time for my break anyway."

"Yay! Ramen!" Naruto cheered as he ran around the Hokage happily. Everyone, except the ANBU, chuckled at the Uzumaki's antics before they went about their business.

* * *

**I'm finished for the holiday! Hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and that you all had a happy 4th of July! Anyone had a hotdog eating contest?**

**Jokes aside, now that we're starting canon, things are going to be very different then how it went in the manga and anime. It's going to go the way that I believe that it should be, so don't question my decisions! Unless you are very confused and need an explanation.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	7. Chapter 7: Teams Are Made

Chapter 7: Teams Are Made

* * *

**How's everyone doing? You all have a happy 4th of July? I know I did, especially since I had a small hotdog eating contest with my cousins. Ahh, delicious meat.**

**Anyway, now we're going to be forming the teams, and there's going to be a lot of changes that I thing, are very necessary, and should have been made in canon. But then again, if canon didn't go the way it did, then there would have been a different storyline, and that's what I'm going to be doing, changing what needs to be changed.**

**Explanations for the changes that are going to be shown this chapter will be explained at the bottom when we're done.**

**A shoutout to Dragon Man 180 for being my 100th reviewer for this story. Thank you for your support!**

**Now please sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.**

* * *

(Konoha-Academy)

For the second time in his life, Naruto was early to the Academy, and for good reasons this time too. Today was the day that he would be assigned to a team to begin their careers as shinobi of Konoha. He hoped and prayed that he would be put on a team with his friends, and with a sensei that liked him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Hinata looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"A-are you okay N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

Naruto smiled and said, "Don't worry Hinata-chan, I was just thinking about what teams we were going to be on."

"I really h-hope that we're on t-t-the same team," Hinata said with a blush on her face.

"Me too, I really hope that neither of us are paired with the teme and banshee, that would suck!"

"I can hear you, you baka!" Sakura screeched as she gave a glare at Naruto. "And Sasuke-kun is not a 'teme'! He's the most wonderful person in the world!"

"Hmm? Did you hear something Hinata-chan? Kiba? Shikamaru? How about you Choji? Or you Shino?" Naruto asked.

"You say something Naruto?" Kiba asked as he pulled out the earplugs that were in his and Akamaru's ears.

"Zzzz," Shikamaru slept through the whole thing.

Choji swallowed his chips and said, "I didn't hear anything."

"I thought I heard something Naruto-san, but I then realized that it was just hot air being blown through the room, Shino said. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started at Shino with wide eyes.

"D-did Shino just make a joke?" Kiba asked.

Shino frowned and said, "I am trying to become more social with all of my friends. Did I say something wrong?"

"No no no!" Naruto reassured. "We were just shocked that you made a joke. you're usually a quiet person so it was a shock to us."

"I see, perhaps I should become more social with everyone before I start creating jokes. That seems like the most logical thing to do," Shino said.

"Troublesome, there's just so many surprises today," Shikamaru sighed. Hinata then tapped Naruto on the shoulder, causing him to look over.

"I s-saw that there's a-another small b-bump on you coat. D-did you get another h-heart?" she whispered. Luckily, Kiba was in an argument with Ino and couldn't hear her.

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it later," Naruto said. Hinata nodded and leaned back into her chair.

Just then Iruka walked in with the support of some crutches.

"I-Iruka-sensei, wh-what happened t-to you?" Hinata asked.

"There was an incident in the village a few days ago and I got hurt in the process," Iruka told her.

"But if there was a problem, why didn't they have Sasuke-kun help?" Sakura asked, making most of the class roll their eyes at the kunoichi hopeful's devotion to the Uchiha scion.**  
**

Iruka sent her a glare and said, "Because Sakura, the Hokage wanted all Chunin and above to be involved because of how serious it was."

Sakura just blushed and looked away, but the rest of the class was laughing at the pinkette's embarrassment.

"Now if you would all kindly shut up now, I'm going to be announcing the teams that have been made, some of you may not like them, but that's how it's going to be," Iruka said as he placed a clipboard on the podium and began to read off of it.

**(Teams 1-6 are unimportant.)**

"Team 7 will be made up of Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka began, making every girl go onto the edge of their seats in anticipation.

"Sakura Haruno-"

"YES! TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL!" Sakura yelled as she stood up on her seat and cheered. Sasuke was crying on the inside because he could already see how annoying this would be.

"Why does Forehead get to be with Sasuke-kun?! It should be me!" Ino yelled.

"Shut it Ino-pig!" Sakura growled.

"Heh, I pity the guy who gets stuck with them," Kiba said as he leaned back into his chair.

"And Kiba Inuzuka. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake," Iruka finished.

"WHAT?!" Kiba yelled as he fell out of his chair in shock. Akamaru jumped from the falling boy and landed in Hinata's lap where she began to console the whining pooch.

Naruto patted Kiba on the back and said, "Good luck man, I hope you survive."

"I'm doomed," Kiba wailed as he sunk to his knees. Akamaru let out a howl of despair alongside his partner.

_'I really feel bad for Kiba, but I can't really do anything about it except pray to Kami that it all turns out well for him,'_ Iruka thought as he watched the whole ordeal.

"Team 8," Iruka began, "will be made up of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga..."

_'Please let Naruto-kun/me be on my/Hinata-chan's team,'_ Hinata and Naruto thought simultaneously.

"...and Naruto Uzumaki. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi," Iruka finished, silently thanking Kami for allowing those friends to stay together.

Naruto grinned when he heard that he would be with his friends. He turned towards Hinata and gave her a fox-like grin while she just blushed, but had a small smile on her face.

"Yosh! Let's become the best ninja team ever Hinata-chan, Shino!" Naruto declared. Both of them just nodded in agreement.

"Team 9 is still active from last year so we're going to move on," Iruka said. "Team 10 will be made up of Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

"Why am I stuck with these two lazy bums?!" Ino wailed as she slammed her head on the desk.

Iruka then looked at all the kids in his class and said, "You'll meet your Jounin sensei's after lunch. So be sure to come back here later. It's been a pleasure teaching you all, and I hope to hear great things about you." With that said, he hobbled out of the room, leaving everyone else to their own devices.

* * *

(Jounin Lounge)

Kurenai Yuhi was a newly promoted Jounin and was already being assigned a team. She was a young woman with light skin and a slender build. She had long black hair that reached her shoulders and was kept out of her face by her headband. She was wearing a outfit that seemed to be made of bandages while only her right arm was sleeved. Her hands and upper thighs were wrapped in bandages.

She sighed as she remembered the events that had happened in the Hokage's office earlier that day.

* * *

(Flashback-Sandaime's Office)

"Hokage-sama, I believe that there is a problem with the team assignments," Kurenai said as she stood before the Hokage with another Jounin next to her.

He was a relatively tall man with silver, spiky, gravity-defying hair, He was wearing the standard Jounin outfit, complete with the vest. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask and his forehead protector was covering his left eye. The right one was lazily reading a orange covered book while he nodded in agreement.

"I have to agree with her Hokage-sama," the Jounin said.

Hiruzen sighed, he was expecting this. "What seems to be the problem Kakashi, Kurenai?"

"I formally put in a request to receive a team made out of Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. Instead, I received Naruto Uzumaki instead of Kiba."

"I wanted the Uzumaki kid instead of the Inuzuka," Kakashi said.

Hiruzen rubbed his temples and said, "If you got the team you wanted, then both of your teams would have been highly unbalanced."

Kurenai was confused. "Can you please explain, Hokage-sama?" She asked.

"If you had gotten Kiba instead of Naruto, you team would be greatly underpowered. I understand that the Inuzuka Clan has a high skill in taijutsu, but with Naruto, he could last longer in a fight. And I'm sure that he would surprise you in one way or another."

"As for your team Kakashi, you received Kiba because your team would need a tracker. With Naruto on it instead of Kiba, your team would never be able to track down a target through special means, such as the Inuzuka's relationship with their ninken."

"But with Naruto on my team, he could form a healthy rivalry with Sasuke and form a bond with him that could keep him tied to the village," Kakashi argued.

Hiruzen wanted to punch the man through the wall, but managed to calm himself.

"That would NEVER work," Hiruzen said. "Sasuke hates Naruto, Sakura hates Naruto, and Naruto hates them both. That team would collapse the moment you leave them unsupervised. Besides, I think Kiba would be able to give the Uchiha a nice challenge every once in a while."

Kakashi just shrugged and turned the page in his book and said, "If that is what you wish Hokage-sama." He then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"I'm still unsure about this," Kurenai said.

Hiruzen lit his pipe and said, "Just give it a try, I'm sure you'll like it."

Kurenai then vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving the Hokage all alone.

* * *

(Flashback End)

Kurenai then got up and walked out of the lounge and made her way to the Academy.

"Might as well get this over with," she muttered.

* * *

(Academy-Noon)

Naruto was sitting between Hinata and Shino as they waited for their sensei. Behind them were Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji.

"So when are they going to be here?" Naruto asked.

"Possibly any moment now," Shino said as he watched a beetle crawl across his hand.

"I hope they gat here soon, I'm almost out of chips," Choji said as he popped another one into his mouth.

"Team 10?" A voice called out. Everyone looked to see a tall man wearing a standard Jounin uniform with his hands in his pockets. He had black hair that was connected to his slightly pointed beard. In his mouth was a cigarette that hung loosely.

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino stood up, though Ino was reluctant, and began to walk out of the door. But before they left, Shikamaru looked over his shoulder.

"I'd tell you to wish me luck, but that would be to troublesome," he said as he walked out the door. Choji laughed as he followed his friend.

"I should have expected that from that lazy bum," Naruto said as he shook his head.

"D-does anyone know a-anything about o-o-our sensei?" Hinata asked.

"I've never heard of her," Shino said.

"I think she's a new Jounin," Kiba said, "At least, that's what I heard from my sister when we were at dinner a few weeks ago."

Naruto huffed and said, "I wanted someone who was world famous." Hinata giggled at his antics and Shino just rolled his eyes behind his shades.

"Team 8?" a voice asked. The members of said team looked over to see Kurenai standing there waiting for them. "Please follow me."

"See ya later Kiba, good luck!" Naruto said as he and the others ran out of the room.

The newly chrisined Team 8 was meeting in a nearby dango shop. Of course, they were allowed entry AFTER Kurenai had convinced the owner to let them in. Reason why they couldn't enter? Naruto. This made Shino confused because he couldn't see anything wrong with Naruto that would have been a reason to deny him entry.

"So how about we get to know one another?" Kurenai asked as she sat across from her three students.

"What do you want to know?" Shino asked.

"Well, I want to know your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future," Kurenai said. "You know what, I'll start. "My name is Kurenai Yuhi, I like genjutsu, my friends, and the village, I dislike perverts and people who think females can't make good kunoichi. My hobbies are gardening, and hanging out with my friend Anko. For the future, I want to become a highly skilled genjutsu user. Now how about you young lady?"

Hinata blushed and said, "M-my name is Hinata H-Hyuga, I like my fa-family, Naruto-kun, and s-sweet things. I-I dislike mean p-people, s-seafood, and the Caged B-Bird Seal. M-my hobbies are f-flower pressing, training, a-and spending time w-with Naruto-kun. I-I want to become the H-Hyuga Head a-and abolish the Seal. I-I also want to s-start a f-f-family o-o-one d-d-d-d-day." She finished that last part with a major blush and a discrete look at Naruto, but only Kurenai caught it.

"Very interesting, okay, next is Shino," Kureani said.

Shino pushed up his glasses and said, "My name is Shino Aburame. I like socializing with people who don't fear me, and insects. I dislike those who harm insects for no reason. My hobbies are practicing my social skills and examining insects. My goal for the future is to become the next Aburame Clan Head."

Kurenai blinked and said, "Well that was...informative. Okay Naruto, you finish up."

Naruto grinned and began, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, hanging out with my friends, especially Hinata-chan, Jiji, and Baa-chan. I dislike people who are mean to others for no reason at all, and ghosts. My hobbies are training, and practicing with Hinata-chan. My goal is to become the next Hokage! Dattebayo!"

"I can see that you've got a lot of enthusiasm, that's good," Kurenai said. "Now I'm afraid to tell you al this, but you're not really Genin yet."

Naturally, Naruto was the first to react. "What do you mean?!" he yelled.

"What I mean is that those Genin Exams that you took the other day, were only there to weed out the weakest of the weak. All Jounin's who are assigned a squad must administer an additional test to see who can make the cut."

"What is the test?" Shino asked.

"This test will be given to you all tomorrow. Come to Training Ground 16 at 8:00, and be prepared to work hard if you want to keep those headbands," Kurenai said as she put down some money and left the restaurant.

"So," Naruto began, "who's nervous about this test we're getting?"

"I-I'm a little n-nervous," Hinata said, "But I'm g-going to do my b-best."

"I agree with Hinata-san, we should all put in our best effort if we want to become Genin of the village," Shino told him.

"Alright, let's work together and pass this stupid test!" Naruto declared. Both clan heirs nodded in agreement and left the dango shop to go home.

However Naruto stopped Hinata from leaving when Shino was out of sight.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"I did promise to tell you about my new heart, right?" Naruto said. Hinata nodded and allowed the Uzumaki to lead her to the park where there was barely a soul there.

"Hinata-chan, can you check to see if anyone's around?" Naruto asked. After sweeping the area with her Byakugan, Hinata confirmed that they were all alone. Naruto then took off his trenchcoat and showed Hinata his Earth Heart.

"W-where did you g-get it?" she asked.

Naruto sighed and began to explain, "Well, I was hanging around Training Ground 27 after the party your family threw when I ran into Iruka-sensei and Mizuki fighting in the forest. Mizuki stole something from the Hokage and was running from the ninja when Iruka-sensei caught up to him. Right before he could kill Iruka-sensei, I jumped in and began to fight Mizuki, luckily Iruka-sensei managed to tire him out before I fought him. I beat Mizuki and Jiji and Baa-chan jumped in and said that they got everything that tells them who Mizuki was working for. Then they allowed my to take the teme's heart."

"Oh Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried as she hugged him tightly.

"H-hey, Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he was stunned by his friends actions. "I'm fine, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"S-still," Hinata began, "I c-can't h-help but be w-worried a-about you."

Naruto smiled gently and returned Hinata's embrace while saying, "Thank you Hinata-chan, you're a true friend."

* * *

(Tomorrow-Training Ground 16)

Naruto arrived at the training ground to see Hinata slumped against a tree taking a nap. The Uzumaki smirked as he watched her sleep with a smile, she was obviously having a good dream.

"Good morning Naruto-san." Naruto jumped into the air and looked back to see Shino standing behind him.

"You know, sneaking up on people isn't the best way to get friendly with them," Naruto said.

"My apologies, I was unaware that it was something wrong to do," Shino said.

Naruto just waved him off and went to sit next to Hinata. Shino went to sit on the other side of the Hyuga girl and closed his eyes as he felt a slight breeze flow through the area.

"You know how much time is left before she gets here?" Naruto asked.

Shino thought for a moment and said, "I believe that we have 5 minutes until Kurenai-sensei arrives."

"More like five seconds," Kurenai said as she dropped down from a tree. "Hello everyone, are we ready to begin?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Let me wake Hinata up first." But before Naruto could do anything, Shino grabbed his shoulder.

"You're not going to shout out that there's a cinnamon bun being sold, are you?" he whispered.

"No, of course not," Naruto said as he pulled out a small scroll with the kanji for emergency written on it. He opened it and unsealed a cinnamon bun.

"I brought one," he finished as he put the cinnamon near Hinata. Her head turned in the direction of the sweet as he held it near her. He moved it side to side, and everyone, except Shino, had to hold in their laughter when Hinata's head moved with it.

Then when Naruto blinked, the cinnamon bun was gone and there was a small stinging sensation on his fingers.

_'She bit me!'_ he thought as he watched Hinata's eyes flutter open and she took in her surroundings.

"Wh-what is i-it?" Hinata asked as she slowly stood up.

"Nothing," Naruto said quickly, a little too quickly. Hinata stared at him suspiciously but put it in the back of her mind as she stood up and faced her sensei along with her team.

Shino pushed up his glasses and asked, "What do we have to do in this test?"

Kurenai smiled and said, "It's very simple. The primary function of this team was to be a tracking team. So you're going to use your tracking skills to locate and subdue me before this timer runs out." She then pulled out a clock and set it down on a nearby post.

"Seems simple enough, anything else we need to know?" Naruto asked as he adjusted the belt on his coat.

"If you want to catch me, you guys are going to come after me with the intention of killing me," Kurenai said. "That means that you all need to use everything you know if you want to catch me."

"B-but what if y-you g-get hurt?" Hinata asked.

"Don't worry about me," Kurenai said. "You need to work hard if you want to pass this test."

"So when do we start?" Naruto asked.

Kurenai smirked and said, "Right now." She then vanished in a swirl of cherry blossoms.

"This was a genjutsu," Shino said.

Naruto sighed, "Great, I hate genjutsu."

"Then I guess you'll dislike the fact that our sensei is known as the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha," Shino told him. Naruto groaned in response.

"W-where do w-we start looking?" Hinata asked.

"Allow me, my insects can already detect a small trail of chakra that matches Kurenai-sensei," Shino said as he raised his arms. A small cloud of insects flew out and began to fly in one direction. The trio of Genin quickly followed the bugs as they flew deeper into the forest.

After a half hour of running, the three friends reached a small clearing where the insects were just buzzing around, seemingly lost.

"Is she here?" Naruto asked.

"This is where the trail ends," Shino said. "So, logically, she must be in this area."

"I-I'll see if s-she's here," Hinata said as she stepped forward. She made several hand seals and said, "Byakugan!" Her vision expanded and she could see her teammates behind her and their chakra. Shino's was being drained into one section of his body at a slow rate, most likely where his insects were. Naruto's was bright and energetic, and she could see the two other sources of chakra on his back.

She then looked elsewhere and noticed a faint amount of chakra in the trees above them, behind their current position.

"There!" Hinata said as she pointed to where the chakra was and her teammates sprung into action. Shino sent a swarm of insects to where she was pointing and Naruto jumped into the trees as the bugs surrounded him like a shield.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto cried as he put his hands into the cross shape seal and created ten clones that leapt into the bushes with him. Kurenai jumped out and clashed with the nearest Naruto, kunai in their hands. Another Naruto dropped down from above and attempted to slam his foot into the Jounin. Kurenai threw the Naruto she was fighting with into the one that was attacking and watched as they both popped into smoke.

Two more Kage Bunshin, accompanied by a swarm of insects, jumped out of the trees and attacked Kurenai. She dispelled them with three quick hits and ducked as Hinata came in with her palm outstretched and coated with chakra. Kurenai was then engaged in a taijutsu battle against the Hyuga and was got two of her chakra points blocked in her left arm before she knocked Hinata away, only to have to dodge the last five of Naruto's Kage Bunshin as they all attacked at once.

"You guys are good," Kurenai said as she jumped back and threw a kunai at the feet of one of the Kage Bunshin. "But you still need to improve!" the kunai then exploded and dispelled the Bunshin as the real Naruto was knocked out of the tree by the explosion.

"S-she's getting a-away!" Hinata yelled as she watched Kurenai run off. Shino lifted Naruto to his feet and the Genin began to chase after her.

"Hinata-chan, can you see her?" Naruto asked as he and his teammates jumped in the direction that their sensei fled.

"H-hai! Follow m-me!" Hinata said as she jumped forward and began to lead her friends through the forest. The trio followed the Hyuga for several minuttes until they reached another clearing where Hinata stopped and began to look around.

"Did you lose her?" Naruto asked.

"S-she was h-here and then she d-d-disappeared," Hinata said.

"There is something in the air that is disturbing my insects, I am of no use here," Shino said as he attempted to send out another swarm.

Meanwhile, Kurenai was hiding in the trees while applying a special genjutsu that hid her from the Byakugan. Next to her was a small pile of leaves that released a scent that neutralized the insects used by the Aburame clan.

_'I wonder what you're going to do to track me down Naruto,'_ Kurenai thought as she observed the Genin from her hiding place.

"Maybe t-this part o-of the test is f-for you Naruto-kun," Hinata suggested as she deactivated her Byakugan.

"I have to agree with her Naruto," Shino said.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them and said, "Alright, but I need you guys to be calm when I do this." Once he got the confirming nods, he walked forward before he stood in the middle of the clearing.

Naruto then slammed both of his hands on the ground and hundreds of threads raced out in all directions. Shino was startled by this but didn't show it, and Hinata was used to it after seeing his threads so many times. In the trees, Kurenai was flabbergasted at Naruto's ability and didn't notice when the threads began to climb up the trees. Once she noticed, several of the threads bumped into her sandals.

Naruto smirked when he felt his threads send him a message, one saying that they found his sensei. Naruto then sent another message to his threads and waited. Hinata and Shino watched in awe as all the threads stopped moving, before they all shot into a certain tree. Kurenai jumped out of the tree, wide eyed and high on adrenaline.

"What are you guys waiting for?! Get her!" Naruto yelled as he coordinated his threads to try and wrap around the kunoichi Jounin. This knocked Hinata and Shino out of their stupor and they jumped after their sensei while she was distracted by the threads.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" Hinata cried as she sent a condensed wave of air at Kurenai. The Jounin was hit in the stomach and poofed into a wooden log, signaling that it was a Kawarimi.

"Behind you!" Shino said as he saw their sensei appear behind the young girl. She quickly sent a kick into Hinata's side that sent her flying before she jumped away as crimson threads pierced the area she was in. Hinata was caught by a mass of threads and gently placed on a branch.

"Katon: Fire Bullet Jutsu!" Naruto cried as he spat out several small fireballs that Kurenai dodged with ease.

"Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" Kurenai cried as she went on the offensive. Naruto quickly made a wall of threads that shielded him from the flames as the fireball impacted against it.

Shino then leapt towards Kurenai and threw a punch, one that she dodged easily. But before she could counterattack, Hinata came down from above and attempted to drive her chakra coated fingers into her sensei's shoulder.

Kurenai then made several hand seals and said, "Magen: Hell Viewing Technique!" A whirlwind of leaves surrounded the trio of Genin and they immediately felt a lightheadedness overcome them. Shino and Hinata easily overcame the genjutsu due to their clan abilities. But for Naruto, he was nearly caught in the genjutsu when he felt his chakra stop momentarily, jolting him back into reality.

_'I guess the Jiongu can break me out of genjutsu, good!'_ Naruto thought as he smirked.

Kurenai was shocked that he was able to break free of her genjutsu, considering that he had no ability like the Sharingan or Byakugan, he didn't even cause himself pain!

_'It must be those threads,'_ Kurenai thought. _'They probably disrupt his chakra to help him.'_

"Naruto-kun, w-we can't ca-catch her at this r-rate," Hinata said.

"There's no need to worry Hinata, I already have a plan in motion," Shino said. "We just need to keep her busy for a while."

Naruto smirked and said, "I think I know what your plan is. Let's hope it works."

Naruto then threw a fist at Kurenai, even though he was 20 feet away. Everyone, except Hinata, watched in shock as his forearm shot out towards Kurenai. The Jounin moved just in time to watch the fist embed itself into the tree trunk.

_'Maybe they're taking the whole 'come at me with the intent to kill' thing a _little _to far,'_ Kurenai thought as she jumped away from a swarm of insects, only these were armed with stingers!

Jiongu: Threading Neeles!" Naruto cried as he shot a wave of threads at Kurenai. She attempted to dodge them, but one wrapped around her leg and threw her to the ground where several more threads wrapped her up until she was in a cocoon. Shino sent a swarm to surround the Jounin and Hinata had two fingers aimed at where her shoulder would be

"Hehe, looks like we win Kurenai-sensei," Naruto said as he put his hands behind his head.

Kurenai sighed and said, "Yes, you guys pass. Now can you please let me go?" Naruto complied and retracted his threads while Shino and Hinata backed away to stand next to Naruto.

"H-how did we d-do sensei?" Hinata asked.

"You guys did better than I expected," Kurenai said as she stood before her team. "Your tracking skills were better than I expected and you guys fought with a fierceness that surprised me."

"So are we officially a team?" Shino asked.

Kurenai smiled and said, "Yes, you guys are now officially members of Team 8." After cheers of happiness, courtesy of Naruto, were thrown around, Kurenai then got her team's attention.

"So Naruto, care to tell me what is this ability of yours?" Kurenai asked.

Naruto bit his lip in nervousness and looked at Hinata, who nodded her head in confirmation. He sighed and explained the conditions of how he got his Jiongu, Hiruzen still hadn't told him the real story of how it happened though.

"Naruto," Shino said as he placed a hand on the blond's shoulder, "I want you to know that I can understand your situation and will support you however possible."

Naruto smiled and said, "Thanks Shino, it's good to know."

"And here I was thinking that you were just a normal kid," Kurenai said as she rubbed her temples.

"There's nothing normal about ninja's," Naruto said with a fox-like grin.

Kurenai chuckled for a moment before she looked at her team and said, "Come on, let's go get some lunch to celebrate." Team 8 then left the training grounds and began walking towards the village.

* * *

**And cut! That's a wrap people! Another chapter complete!**

**So, what did you guys think? Like it? Love it? Can't get enough? Come on, tell me! I'm dying to know what you guys think!**

**Anyway, next chapter is going to be some more bonding between Team 8 and a little viewing of their missions and training before we start the Wave Arc. What? Did you really think I would forget about Zabuza and Haku? Shame on you for doubting me.**

**Now then, time to explain my reasons for changing everything:**

**1. Teams 7 and 8 are unbalanced. Team 7 was more of an assault team while Team 8 was built for tracking. I agree, Kiba was tough, but he doesn't have Naruto's stamina and durability to last long in a fight. Plus, Team 7 needed a tracker. What if they were chasing a criminal and couldn't find him? They would have failed the mission, especially since Kakashi would be to lazy to summon his dogs.**

**2. Kakashi was a horrible teacher in Part 1, especially to Naruto. He gave Sasuke all the attention and only taught the rest of the team during the Wave Arc. Even worse, he taught them something that should have been covered BEFORE they even started doing missions!**

**Okay, now I'm calm.**

**On a side note, Happy Birthday to Kushina Uzumaki!**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	8. Chapter 8: Team Training

Chapter 8: Team Training

* * *

**I'm baaaaaaack! So how have you all been? I know you all are practically dying for me to get on with this story of mine, but we shouldn't jump into the action just yet. That would be rushing things, and rushing things will only make problems.**

**So now we're going to be seeing Team 8 as they train, do missions, and improve as a whole before we continue with canon and start the Wave Arc. I assure you, things are going to be very different then how they originally were. You might like these changes.**

**Enough rambling, on with the show!**

* * *

For three weeks, Team 8 has been training hard to improve upon their personal skills and teamwork. They would meet at the training grounds at 8:00 in the morning and commence with this schedule.

8:00-9:00=Warmups

9:00-10:30=Teamwork Exercises and Chakra Control

10:30-12:00=Sparing

12:00-1:00=Lunch Break

1:00-2:00=Genjutsu Detection and Releasing

2:00-5:00=Missions

Each training session helped them become closer to one another and grow stronger each day. Of course, they never would have thought that Kurenai would be a drill sergeant with her being a new Jounin.

And they never expected how torturous she could be with her Genjutsu. Though, Hinata never complained when her Genjutsu's involved a certain Jinchuriki doing certain things that resulted in Hiinata getting massive nosebleeds, much to Naruto's confusion, especially since she would never tell him about those Genjutsu's. And blush furiously whenever he came near her during those days.

However, today was going to be a new experience for Team 8...

* * *

(Training Grounds 16)

"Did I ever mention how much I hate Genjutsu?" Naruto asked as he crossed his arms and huffed.

"Every day since we started," Shino told him as he observed a beetle that landed on his finger. Naruto just gave him a look while Hinata giggled at his face. Kurenai chuckled at her students antics while they took a short break from their training.

"It's not my fault I can't cast a single one," Naruto said.

"Well, it kinda is," Kurenai said. "The Genjutsu that I know don't require a lot of chakra, and it's because of your large reserves that you can't cast any of them."

"Why must I be cursed with such a hurtful gift?!" Naruto wailed as anime tears fell down his face. Kurenai sweat dropped and considered sending Naruto to a psychiatrist before shaking the thought from her head.

"N-Naruto-kun, it's not t-that bad," Hinata said as she tried to console her secret love.

"I know Hinata-chan, it's just very frustrating," Naruto said as he detached his arm and threw it up to grab an apple. He pulled back and handed the apple to Hinata, who blushed a bright red before she took the apple and ate it with a smile on her face.

"Alright, now let's-" Kurenai was cut off when another person entered the training grounds. She had light brown eyes and purple hair that was done up in a spiky ponytail. She was wearing a mesh shirt that was practically see-through, reaching down to her thighs. An orange skirt was hanging from her hips, not even reaching her knees. She also had a tan trenchcoat that did nothing to hide her figure.

"What are you doing her Anko?" Kurenai asked.

"Hey Kure-chan, you're needed in the Hokage's office for a small mission," Anko said as she took out a dango stick and began to munch on it.

"But I'm training my team," Kurenai protested.

"What do you want me to do about it? I'm no teacher," Anko told her.

Kurenai grinned and made a hand seal. "Well now you are." She then vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Anko and her three Genin in the training grounds. Anko stood there with a blank look on her face before her brain processed the information.

"How could she leave me with these gakis!?" Anko wailed as she gripped her hair.

"Something tells me that we won't like this," Naruto said as he looked at the purple haired ninja.

Anko then stopped her wailing and turned to Team 8 with a unnerving smile on her face. Upon seeing the smile, Hinata went to hide behind Naruto, who had decided to hide behind Shino, who was glad that his jacket and shades were hiding his panicked expression.

"So, kiddies, let's start with some survival training," Anko said as her smile became more sadistic. She bit her thumb, made a few hand seals, and slammed her hand on the ground, resulting in a large cloud of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Anko could be seen standing on top of a silver large snake with green markings running across its body. The snake hissed at the Genin while looking at them hungrily with its yellow eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun, I-I-I'm s-scared," Hinata said as she trembled at the sight of the large snake.

**"You sssssummoned me misssstressss?" **the snake asked.

"Yes I did Mai," Anko said as she stroked the snakes scales on its head. "Kure-chan left me to take care of her team while she was summoned to the Hokage's office. So we're going to give these gakis some survival training."

**"Kurenai-ssssssan left YOU to help her team?"** Mai questioned.

Anko grumbled, "Yeah, I can't believe it either. Now let the chase begin!"

The snake then lunged at Team 8, and the Genin just barely managed to jump away as the reptile slammed into the ground and created a large dust cloud. When the smoke cleared, Mai and Anko were gone and a large hole was in the ground.

"Great, a snake that can dig," Naruto moaned as he tensed up, hearing a hiss behind him. "Did anyone else hear that?!" He yelled as he whirled around, trying to find the snake.

"You're being paranoid," Shino told him as he sent out bugs.

Hinata was looking around with her Byakugan and trying to find out where Anko and Mai went.

"Naruto-kun! Behind you!" Hinata yelled as she saw the duo racing to hit the blond from behind. Naruto jumped out of the way and the ground burst open as Mai flew upwards, trying to swallow the Genin as he tried to get away, keyword being tried. The snake closed its jaws around Naruto, resulting in the snake's eyes widening before spitting Naruto out as it began to gag.

**"What the Hell!? Are you made of ramen?!" **Mai screamed as she continued to spit in disgust.

"Oi! You have a problem with ramen?!" Naruto yelled back. Anko, Hinata and Shino watched with sweatdrops as the Jinchuriki and the snake Summon argued back and forth about ramen. Mai declaring that it was disgusting while Naruto argued that it was the food of Kami.

"That gaki really loves his ramen," Anko muttered as she jumped back onto Mai's head. "Can we get back to the tour-I mean training?"

**"Asssss you wisssssh," **Mai said as she lunged towards Naruto as he jumped into the air while slamming his heel on the snake's snout. Mai recoiled in slight pain, and backed up into Shino's waiting bugs. The insects began to suck on the chakra that held the summon in this realm instantly. Mai was able to shake off the insects before they took too much chakra.

Hinata then began to fire several Air Palms at the snake, distracting it long enough for Naruto to wrap up the snake with his threads. Mai dug into the ground, forcing Naruto to let go unless he wanted to be dragged along for the ride.

"Not bad gakis, but it's gonna take more than that to take down this snake," Anko said as she sat in a nearby tree and munched on some dango.

"Anybody know where that snake went?" Naruto asked as he looked around.

"I d-don't see her a-anywhere," Hinata replied.

"She keeps changing locations before my insects can tell me where she is," Shino said with slight irritation.

"Cover me, I'm going to try using my threads," Naruto said as he knelt down and planted his hands on the ground. Hundreds of threads shot out from his sleeves and burrowed into the ground where they began to spread out and search for the snake.

Naruto then grinned and began to pull on his threads, but was immediately pulled back. Seeing his struggle, Hinata grabbed onto Naruto while Shino grabbed Hinata and the three Genin began to pull hard on the threads. Anko watched in amusement as the trio tried to drag Mai out of the ground, but that amusement turned into shock as the ground the threads dug into began to break. Moments later, a silver tail wrapped up in threads was slowly dragged out of the ground as it wiggled furiously.

**"Let go of me!" **Mai yelled as she was dragged out of the ground. all wrapped up in threads.

"So do we pass Anko-san?" Naruto asked as he tightened his threads around the snake.

Anko was flabbergasted at how her Summon was so easily taken down by three Genin. She was broken out of her stupor by the sound of Kurenai laughing as she landed beside her friend.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Team 8 yelled at the sudden appearance of their teacher.

"I thought you had a mission to go on?" Naruto asked.

Kurenai laughed and said, "This was a little test my friend Anko wanted to give to you guys after I bragged about how well you've grown. So we created a little lie so you guys wouldn't think that I was in the area."

"Very elaborate, I never expected it," Shino said as he adjusted his shades.

"That w-was very mean K-Kurenai-sensei," Hinata said.

"Well, I guess I could have just told you guys straight off the bat instead," Kurenai said as she rubbed the back of her head.

Naruto waved her off and said, "It's fine sensei, you were just doing what you thought was best."

_'It's amazing how forgiving this kid is,'_ Anko thought as she watched the teacher and her students interact. She then sent Mai back to her own realm, freeing her from her bonds in the process.

"So how come you never introduced us to your friend Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Anko-chan's usually busy at the T&I Department, she's one of their best interrogators," Kurenai explained.

"So don't do anything bad or you might have to deal with me," Anko joyously said as she licked a kunai, making the three Genin shiver.

Kurenai smirked and addressed her team, "To celebrate your surviving of Anko's exercise, I'm going to take you guys to the Higurashi Weapons Shop to get some weapons, something I should have done a month ago."

"A-are you going to b-be paying for us s-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Hai, and don't worry Hinata, I already got Hiashi-sama's permission on you getting a weapon, despite the Hyuga's tradition of only using kunai and shuriken," Kurenai told her only female student.

"Well, I'm gonna go and attend to the dango stick that's calling my name," Anko said as she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kurenai then lead her team back into the village and down to the market district.

* * *

(Higurashi Weapons Shop)

Kurenai opened the door and let her Genin inside the store. The shelves were filled with every weapon imaginable, and makable. Attending the counter was a girl who was only a year older than them. She was wearing a pink sleeveless vest with dark green pants. Her hair was done in two buns that made her look like a panda. She had a Konoha forehead protector placed on her head with several bangs falling on the side of it.

"Welcome to Higurashi Weapons Shop!" the girl greeted with a small bow.

Kurenai gave a bow of her own and said, "Hello, I'm Kurenai Yuhi, leader of Team8. I was wondering if you would be able to help my team get some weapons that suit them."

The girl grinned and walked around the counter while saying, "Of course I can! My name's Tenten Higurashi by the way." She then grabbed Hinata and dragged her forward, resulting in an 'eep' coming from the Hyuga heiress. Tenten began to circle the younger girl like a prowling lion.

"Hmm, you don't have a lot of muscle on your arms. Despite being a Hyuga, you appear to be a person who would prefer to not kill you enemies," Tenten noted as she observed Hinata.

"You can tell all that just by looking at a person?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"It's one of the skills that my tou-san taught me," Tenten declared proudly. She then went into one of the aisles and disappeared for a few minutes. When she came back, she had a bow and a quiver of arrows in her hands.

"These are special," Tenten began, "the quiver has multiple storage seals inside so you can carry a larger number of arrows. You just reach back and the sensor seal will release an arrow into your grasp. There is a connection seal on the bow that lets you know when you have less than twenty arrows. The arrows are also special, you can infuse your chakra into it to shut down your opponents tenketsu since your a Hyuga."

"Thank you v-very much," Hinata said as she bowed.

"I'm shocked, after being Neji's teammate I expected every other Hyuga to be a cold and unimpressionable person," Tenten said.

"Wait, you're on a team with Neji?" Naruto asked. Tenten nodded and Naruto immediately grabbed her hand while saying, "I feel so sorry for you. You're stuck with that teme every single day." Everyone, sans Hinata and Tenten, sweatdropped, thinking that Naruto was over exaggerating.

"I can give you some lessons on using these sometime," Tenten offered.

"I-I can't accept th-that," Hinata declined.

Tenten shook her head and, "I'm free on every Thursday so there's no need to worry about wasting any of my time." Hinata accepted the training offer after the rest of her team encouraged her, especially Naruto.

"Now for you," Tenten said as she turned her attention to Shino. She began to circle the Aburame and make several notes about her findings.

"Like most Aburame, you rely on you insects for long-range attacks. Your clan does not put too much of an importance on Taijutsu so you could be considered the opposite of a Hyuga in that regard. I think I have something that you'll like," Tenten said as she retreated back into the store once more. This time, she came back with two katanas that seemed to have been cut down from their original size.

"Just plain katanas Tenten-san?" Shino questioned.

Tenten shook her head and explained, "These katanas are made of chakra metal, so you can conduct your chakra through them to give them an added effect depending on your chakra nature. They might be a little long for you, but I think you'll be able to handle it."

"I appreciate this very much," Shino said as he gave a grateful bow to the older girl.

"I believe I can get my cousin Shika to give me some lessons, she also uses a sword along with her insects," Shino said as he examined the blades.

Tenten waved him off and approached her last customer. She took a longer time observing Naruto, resulting in him becoming slightly nervous from her close examination. Hinata had to remind herself that Tenten was just doing her job and not gazing at Naruto like he was a piece of meat. Like she does when nobody is looking.

"You're really unique, I'm having a hard time figuring out what weapon might suit you," Tenten said as she walked around the blond. "Your muscles say that you like to fight with your hands, but something tells me that you can extend your range with it." Naruto slightly flinched and continued to listen. "You don't look like the sword type, but I think I have something that you'll really like."

Tenten then retreated into the store once again and left the group lone for five minutes. After she returned she came back with a box and set it down on the counter.

"These are something that Konoha's been recently been making, and it just strikes me as something that fits you," Tenten explained as she tore off the tape and opened the box. Inside were two metal gauntlets that had pointed metal fingers. There was a larger area that surrounded the wrist section that held a spinning dial with four blank spots on it. **(It's the same thing the Demon Brothers wore, except with the following changes that will be said.)**

"Wow! These things look so cool!" Naruto shouted as he picked one up and began to examine it.

"You didn't even hear about the features yet," Tenten said with a grin on her face. "The fingers are made of a specialized metal that will allow you to perform hand seals without any problems. This spinning dial is here so you can write storage seals on the four blanks spots, making it a good place to store anything you need to carry. It's also made of chakra metal."

"Who came up with this type of weapon?" Kurenai asked.

"Tou-san said that it was mentioned by one of the shinobi council members in a meeting and the Hokage wanted to see if it would make a good weapon for our ninja," Tenten explained, having remembered what her father told her.

"I really like these things," Naruto said as he tried both of them on. The gauntlets felt comfortable and fit him like a glove. True to Tenten's word, the fingers were very flexible, yet durable. He was able to make every single hand seal that he knew with little difficulty.

"Alright, how much do I have to pay?" Kurenai asked, wanting to get to the bad news, for her at least.

Tenten walked back to the register and pushed a few buttons before turning back to the Jounin and declaring in a cheerful tone, "$40,000!"

Kurenai froze and promptly fainted when she heard the amount. Hinata ran towards her sensei and shook her shoulders to try and wake her up since she was familiar with fainting. Kurenai woke up a few minutes later and took out her wallet with shaky hands and pulled out a large amount of dollars. Tenten happily snatched up the money and put it in the register while Kurenai held a small funeral for her wallet.

_'Wonderful, now I'm going to have to eat ration bars for at least a month!'_ Kurenai wailed in her thoughts.

"Thank's for buying this stuff for us Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto called out as he and his friends ran off to test out their new weapons.

* * *

(Hyuga Complex)

Hiashi was sitting in his office looking over some reports. A Hyuga Chunin was assaulted on a border patrol mission by a team from Kumo. She and her team were able to fight them off, but received a few injuries in the process, nothing threatening though.

This disturbed Hiashi greatly, this was the third attempt Kumo made for the Byakugan this month. He thought that they would stop after the event on Hinata's third birthday, but he was unfortunately wrong. They started their attempts again only two years ago. Thankfully they only happened when any Hyuga was near the Konoha-Kumo border, but it still bothered him.

Another thing that was bothering him was that he was starting to receive marriage proposals from suitors. Not only did it make him feel like they were aiming at his daughter like she was a prize, they suitors were practically close to his age! He would NEVER even CONSIDER accepting a marriage proposal from any of them. Hiashi was a firm believer that people should just get into a relationship the old fashioned way, meaning that two people should just start out with a date and see how it goes.

After all, it worked out wonderfully for him and Hitomi.

"Tou-sama!" Hiashi was shaken from his thoughts when Hanabi rushed into his office with a grin on her face.

"Yes Hanabi? What is it?" Hiashi asked as he put his files away. He could get back to them later. Or tomorrow.

"Hinata-nee-chan and Nato-nii-san came back, and they have some new things with them.

_'So Kurenai-san finally took them to get weapons,'_ Hiashi thought. _'I wonder what they got.'_

Hiashi got up and followed his youngest daughter to where she left her older sister and her brother figure. Hanabi lead him out to the gardens where Hinata and Naruto were showing their weapons to Hitomi, who was looking happy for the two Genin.

Hiashi walked up to the three and said, "So I heard that you two finally got your weapons, care to show them?"

Hinata showed her bow and arrow to her father who took them in his hands and examined them before handing them back to his daughter.

"I must say, this is a good weapon for you to use," Hiashi said. "The material is a good chakra conductor and very durable. The seals are also good and don't look like they'll wear out anytime soon."

"How do y-you know about seals T-Tou-sama?" Hinata asked.

"My sensei was Jiraiya of the Sannin, he was considered an expert in Fuinjutsu and passed a few lessons to us, only one of my teammates was able to become better than him," Hiashi explained.

"Wanna check out my new weapons Hiashi-sama?" Naruto asked with a large grin. Hiashi looked and saw Naruto's gauntlets as they gleamed in the sun..

"They make you look somewhat threatening," Hiashi said. Naruto became irritated and sent the Hyuga head a small glare.

"What do ya mean 'somewhat threatening'?" Naruto asked as he tapped his foot.

"I think it's because of your whiskers Nato-nii-san," Hanabi said, "they make you look cute. Isn't that right nee-chan?" Hanabi nudged Hinata, who squeaked when she was put on the spotlight.

Blushing, Naruto turned away and declared, "They do not make me look cute! They make me look scary!"

"Aww, but you looked so adorable back when you were only a little boy," Hitomi said, making the young Uzumaki turn into a tomato.

* * *

**Unfortunately, I'm finished. I know it's shorter than usual, but I really have nothing else I can think of. This was more of a filler chapter so you guys could see how well Team 8 was bonding with each other and to get them some weapons.**

**You guys may be curious about their weapons, but let me explain. I remember reading a story where Hinata used similar bows and arrows, but I forgot some of the details to it, and what the story was called. For Shino, it was something I thought he would be able to use well. Naruto's weapon was something I thought really hard about, considering his Jiongu. Think about it, sharp clawed gauntlets, extendable arms. See anything yet?**

**Now I have a question for all of you. What do you think about my story idea 'Dark, But Not Evil'? I'm planning on starting it after the Suna-Oto Invasion is over and done with. It's not going to be a Kingdom Hearts/Naruto crossover because I'm only going to be adding the Heartless and Nobodies to the Narutoverse. You can find the information of the story on my profile.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	9. Chapter 9: Wave Arc 1

Chapter 9: Wave Arc 1

* * *

**It's time for what you've all been waiting for people! We're going to Nami! And everything's going to end in a COMPLETELY different way. So I hope you all will enjoy it greatly!**

**I have received several PM's about my decision for Naruto's weapon, which I have to point it out to you since some of you can't get it. With his EXTENDABLE ARMS that he has from the JIONGU, he can use the SHARP GAUNTLETS to strike his enemies FROM A LONG DISTANCE. DID YOU GET IT THIS TIME?**

**Ryuujin96: Sometimes the Hokage has to take a risk and send a Hyuga to the border. You can't just rely on only and Inuzuka's nose or an Aburame's bugs all the time. And the Sandaime's going to tell Naruto the truth after the Wave Arc, I have something planned that will shock all of you.**

**biofan09: The claws are really flexible so a ninja can make the seals correctly. Spaghetti monsters? Ha! That cracks me up!**

**Vallavarayan: Those staff's that Naruto currently has just doesn't seem quite right to me. If you think that they suit him batter that's your opinion. I just don't think it's something that he would use.**

**Banjo the Fox: What is it that you have against Kiba? Not that I'm angry or anything, I'm just trying to make him a somewhat better character than he was in canon. And I'm not really a fan of Kakashi bashing, but you can't deny that he deserves it for what he didn't do in the series. Teach Naruto!**

**Got it? Good, now let's get started.**

* * *

(Hokage's Office-1 Month Later)

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, and it wasn't even 10:00 yet! He was beginning to think that there was a replicating seal on the bottom of his 'In' box, because this had to be the fourth time he rejected this form to kick Naruto out of Konoha.

"Will you stop sighing already? You're gonna make me go crazy," Tsunade said as she looked over her own share of papers.

"I have to agree with Tsunade-sama," Shizune put in her own two cents as she looked over a mission report.

_"Hokage-sama, Team 8 is waiting for you to receive a mission,"_ His secretary said over the intercom.

Hiruzen pressed the talk button and said, "Send them in." Team 8, lead by Kurenai, entered the office and stood before the Hokage's desk.

"Hi Jiji, Baa-chan, Shizune-nee-chan!" Naruto greeted

"Naruto! Show the Hokage and Lady Tsunade some respect," Kurenai scolded.

Hiruzen chuckled and said, "It's fine Kurenai, we're all familiar with Naruto, there's no need to yell at him for something I allow him to do."

"M-my apologies Hokage-sama," Kurenai stuttered. She then whirled around and sent a glare at Naruto and Hinata who were trying to stifle their giggles. The two clammed up, but couldn't keep their smiles off their faces.

Kurenai sighed and turned back to the Hokage. "I've decided that we're ready for a C-Rank mission Hokage-sama."

"YATTA! No more chasing that demonic cat!" Naruto cheered. Hinata and Shino cheered as well, though silently. Kurenai decided not to reprimand her her student, having done something similar when she was a Genin. She shivered as she remembered Tora's 'special treatment' whenever she had to pick up the cat. The other older shinobi also shivered as they remembered their experiences with the Daimyo's wife's cats.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "Yesterday it was Kakashi and Team 7, now you and Team 8. I wonder if Asuma and his team are going to come in tomorrow?"

As predicted, Naruto exploded, "WHAT?! You mean Sasuke-teme got a C-Rank mission before ME?"

Before anyone could respond, the office doors burst open and a small brown pug ran in with a small scroll on its back. The four hidden ANBU jumped into action and surrounded the pug with their tantos pointed at it.

"It's me Hokage-sama," the dog spoke.

"If you're really Pakkun, you know what volume of Icha Icha Paradise Kakashi loves more than the rest," Hiruzen stated as he observed the dog.

Pakkun huffed and deadpanned, "Kakashi loves Icha Icha Paradise 3 which features his favorite female character Tsunabe Senja."

"It's Pakkun, only a select few people know about that little fact," Hiruzen confirmed. The ANBU withdrew their swords and retreated back into the shadows.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Naruto asked himself.

Tsunade was sweating bullets on the inside, only she and Shizune knew where Jiraiya got the inspiration for Tsunabe. Somehow, she had missed him when she was at the hot springs sometime in the past.

"Maybe I'm imagining it, I've never heard that name before," Naruto said. Tsunade mentally sighed in relief.

While this was happening, Hiruzen was reading the scroll that Pakkun delivered. When he put it down, he had a very troubled look on his face.

"Team 8," Hiruzen began, "you are to travel to Nami to assist Team 7 in their protection mission. They have encountered two Chunin Nukenin who are known for their connections to Zabuza Momochi."

"Hokage-sama, wouldn't it be wiser to send in a more experienced team?" Kurenai asked.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "The recent influx of missions from Kaze no Kuni has left us with less men than usual. You are the only team that can be ready to leave as soon as possible."

After a minute of thinking, Kurenai said, "Team 8 accepts this mission Hokage-sama." She then turned to her team and said, "Head home and pack for a month long trip, be at the southern gates in an hour at the most."

"Hai!" the three Genin said before they left the office and went to go prepare for their mission.

* * *

(Southern Gates)

Naruto and Shino were waiting patiently for Hinata and Kurenai so they could leave.

"Do you know anything about Nami Shino?" Naruto asked.

"All I know is that it's a small nation with a civilian village that relies on its sea trading to prosper," Shino told him. "I also remember a story that Nami was protected by a Hidden Village that was destroyed by Kiri, Iwa, and Kumo in the Second Shinobi War."

"Wow, it took three Great Villages to destroy just one?" Naruto asked in amazement.

"And only 93% of the attackers died in the assault," Kurenai said as she walked up to the two.

Naruto whistled and said, "That village must have been really tough." Before anyone could say anything else, Hinata ran up to them and bent over in exhaustion, her face red and slightly sweaty from running so hard.

"I-I'm sorry I w-was late. The m-members of the Hyuga C-Council wanted to hear ab-about this mission b-because it is higher t-than a D-Rank," Hinata explained.

"Please tell me they didn't insult you while you were explaining it," Naruto pleaded. Hinata just looked down, confirming Naruto's suspicions.

"Why would they insult Hinata?" Shino asked.

Naruto scowled and told him, "The Hyuga Council doesn't like the fact that Hinata-chan is kind and caring instead of being a cold jackass like the rest of them."

"Naruto! You shouldn't insult the elders of a clan like that!" Kurenai scolded.

"Umm, Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata began. "N-Naruto-kun is right t-though." Naruto grinned in triumph while the older woman dropped her jaw seeing the disrespect that was being given.

The Jounin sensei shook her head and asked, "Do you guys have everything you'll need for our mission?" Seeing all of them nod their heads, she turned to Naruto who was the only one without a pack. "And where is your supplies?"

Naruto then pulled out a storage seal and showed Kurenai. She took the scroll and unsealed it, watching as a good amount of supplies poofed into existance.

"Naruto, how did you seal all of this stuff into the scroll? It shouldn't be able to hold all of this stuff," Kurenai asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "I've been studying Fuinjutsu for a year after Jiji gave me a book on it as a birthday gift. He said I have a real talent for itafter he gave me a little test. I discovered that if you use a higher character for the seal you can seal larger items into it, or you could seal more items than normal."

"I'm no seal expert, but I can tell that these are really advanced," Kurenai said as she inspected the scroll. Naruto then sealed everything back into it and put the scroll back into his pocket.

"Okay team, let's go!" Kurenai ordered. Team 8 then ran down the road, heading for Nami.

* * *

(Later-In Nami)

Team 7 had gotten off of a boat that had taken them to their destination. With them was their client, Tazuna the bridge builder.

The group of five then traveled deeper into the forest, all of them on guard after their little run-in with the Demon Brothers. Kiba's advanced hearing alerted him to some rustling bushes beside the group.

"Get 'im Akamaru!" Kiba commanded. The small dog ran into the bushes and came back moments later chasing a white rabbit.

"Kiba!" Sakura yelled, sending a harsh glare. "How could you try to kill such an adorable creature?!"

_'If Hinata found out, she'd skin me alive! And then she'd make me eat my intestines!'_ Kiba wailed. Little known fact about Hinata, she loves rabbits, especially when Naruto once compared her to one when they were little. She's been trying to get Hiashi to let her keep one in the compound, but he's been against it due to his fear about what the elders might do if they found out.

_'Hmm, that rabbit is white, yet we're in the wrong season for that kind of fur,'_ Kakashi thought as he observed the animal with a lazy eye. _'That means that this rabbit was kept indoors, only to be used for one purpose...Kawarimi.'_

Suddenly, a whizzing sound came to his ears, causing the Jounin's eye to widen.

"GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled as he tackled Tazuna to the ground. The Genin jumped to the ground as a massive sword over their heads and imbedded itself into a tree, where a figure landed on the handle of the blade.

He was a tall muscular man with short spiky black hair. He had bandages wrapped around his face in the same manner as Kakashi's mask. He was shirtless, save for a belt that looked like where he would hold his sword, and camouflage designed arm warmers. He had blue, baggy pants that were covered by leg warmers of the same design. On his head in a sideways manner was a headband that had the insignia for Kirigakure no Sato.

"Kakashi Hatake the Copy Ninja," the man began, "I never would have expected to meet you here of all places. No wonder the Demon Brothers failed."

"Zabuza Momochi, the Kirigakure no Kijin. I assume that you are after the bridge builder as well?" Kakashi asked.

"That's right, so why don't you leave him here while you take your brats back to Konoha? It might keep them alive for a little while longer," Zabuza told him.

"Kakashi-sensei, who is this guy?" Sakura asked.

"His name is Zabuza Momochi, an A-Rank Nukenin from Kiri who fled after a failed assassination on the Mizukage," Kakashi informed her. "He's on a whole other level from those other guys we faced. Stay here and protect the bridge builder, I'll handle Zabuza."

"Cute," Zabuza chuckled. "These brats think that they're real ninja."

"Don't mock me, I'll show you the power of an elite," Sasuke said as he leveled a glare at Zabuza, who didn't even acknowledge him. The former Kiri ninja jumped off of his blade and dislodged it from the tree before landing on a lake only a few meters away from the Konoha team. In response, Kakashi placed his hand on his headband like he was preparing to lift it up.

"Oh, so I get to see the famous Sharingan already?" Zabuza asked, shocking the Genin.

_'Sharingan?! But Kakashi isn't an Uchiha. Is he?'_ Sasuke thought as he turned his gaze to his teacher.

_'What's he talking about?' **'Who cares, he's probably just trying to mess with our heads! Cha!' **_Sakura and Inner Sakura thought.

_'Isn't that the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha Clan? Did Kakashi-sensei steal one?'_ Kiba thought.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" Zabuza declared as the mist thickened and he vanished within it. Kakashi pulled up his headband and revealed a closed eye with a scar running through it, but when he opened it, it was a red eye with three black tomoe surrounding the pupil. Sasuke looked like he was seeing a ghost when he saw Kakashi's hidden eye.

All of a sudden, the air felt thick and heavy as a shadow of despair hung over the young teenagers.

"Eight points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Which will be my point?" Zabuza's voice whispered from everywhere, yet nowhere. Kakashi radiated his own KI to counter Zabuza's own.

_'T-this feeling, it's so intense it's making me shake,'_ Sasuke thought as he hands slightly shook in fear. _'It makes me want to just end it here so I don't experience it anymore!'_ He unconsciously brought his kunai closer to his neck.

"Saskue!" Kakashi called out, snapping the Uchiha from his trance. "Don't worry, I'll protect you with my life." He turned and gave the Genin a double eye smile to calm him down.

"Will you now?" Zabuza asked as he appeared between the three Genin and Tazuna, his sword in a position where it would cleave them all in half. But before he could do anything, Kakahsi rushed forward and buried his kunai into Zabuza's side, but when he pulled it out, water flowed freely from the wound.

"Mizu Bunshin?" Kakashi questioned as Zabuza fell into water.

"Sensei! Behind you!" Kiba yelled. Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi before he could react and sliced him in half with his blade.

"Ha! You never should have expected it to be that easy Kakashi!" Zabuza gloated. However, Kakashi fell into water as well and the real Konoha Jounin appeared behind the Nukenin with a kunai to the throat.

"You should follow your own advice," Kakashi said. His Genin were relieved that their sensei was still alive.

Zabuza snorted. "So you were able to copy my Mizu Bunshin within the mist while you made your little speech. Impressive."

"This fight is over, you've lost," Kakashi declared as he put the kunai closer to Zabuza's neck. But to his surprise, Zabuza began to chuckle darkly, putting everyone on edge.

"You really think you've won?" Zabuza asked. "You actually think that I'll be defeated by a mere copycat like you?"

"Think again," another Zabuza said as he appeared behind Kakashi. The Jounin cut the first Zabuza's throat to reveal that he was another clone.

"AAAHHHH! Another Bunshin!" Sakura wailed.

Zabuza then kicked Kakashi through the air, hard, and sending him into the lake. Zabuza then moved his sword to his back before running after him on top of the water.

_'Why is this water so heavy?'_ Kakashi asked himself as he struggled to get free. Zabuza flickered into existence behind him and made several hand seals.

"Suiton: Water Prison Jutsu!" Zabuza then stuck his hand out as a sphere of water formed around his hand and Kakashi.

"You can't escape, this water is stronger than steel due to how dense this jutsu makes it. You're not going anywhere anytime soon," Zabuza informed him. He then created a Mizu Bunshin that turned its sights on the rest of Team 7 and Tazuna.

"What do we do?" Kiba asked. "Kakashi-sensei's been captured."

Sasuke stepped forward and said, "Isn't it obvious? We rescue him and beat this guy."

"No! Forget about me! Take the bridge builder and run to safety! You don't stand a chance against him!" Kakashi yelled from within the prison.

"It doesn't matter what they do," Zabuza chuckled. "What's to stop me from killing you right here and go take care of them myself? Face it Kakashi, you've lost."

"I'm not quitting here! Let's go Akamaru!" Kiba shouted as he threw a soldier pill to the small dog. Akamaru ate the pill and his fur turned a menacing red as he growled at Zabuza.

"Beast Mimicry Jutsu!" Kiba cried as his nails grew and he crouched down on all fours.

"Jujin Bunshin!" Akamaru then turned into an exact copy of Kiba. The two then tensed up as they prepared to attack.

"Gatsuga!" Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru turned into twin tornados of claws. The duo then sped towards Zabuza.

"Worthless!" Zabuza's clone then turned his sword sideways and bashed the two away. Akamaru turned back into a dog and impacted against a tree, and Kiba skidded along the dirt before he rested on the ground.

"Sasuke-kun, you need to save us!" Sakura screamed. Sasuke said nothing, but knew that she was right. The last loyal Uchiha dashed forward and aimed a kick at the Nukenin, but Zabuza merely caught him by the foot and threw him to the side.

"It's too bad, I don't take pleasure in ending the lives of kid ninjas," Zabuza muttered. "But it can't be helped sometimes."

"Not if we can help it!"

A metal claw burst out of the trees and dispelled the Zabuza clone. The real Zabuza hid his shock as four figures shot out of the trees.

_'I thought Haku was supposed to warn me if anyone else came,'_ Zabuza thought. _'Wait, now that I look at it, they came from his blind spot. Can't blame the kid for that.'_

"Kurenai!? What are you doing here?!" Kakashi yelled from within the Water Prison.

"Hokage-sama sent us as your backup. There was nobody else available," Kurenai explained as she observed her surroundings. Kiba was holding onto an unconscious Akamaru, Sasuke was down on one knee, and Sakura was close to wetting herself as she stood by Tazuna, who somehow looked less scared than the pinkette.

She then looked towards the lake where Kakashi was. He was still within the Water Prison along with Zabuza's arm. Standing on the shoreline were two Mizu Bunshin that stood there with their swords outstretched in a defensive manner.

"Shino, I want you to protect Kiba, Akamaru, Sakura, and the client. Naruto, Hinata, I want you two to assist me in freeing Kakashi. Sasuke, can you still fight?" Kurenai asked.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he stood up. Kurenai took that as a yes and turned back to Zabuza.

"I want you two to stick with me and provide me backup as I take care of the clones," Kurenai ordered. "Naruto, I want you to try and free Kakashi. Your long range attacks will be very useful here. Try to force Zabuza's arm to release his hold on the Water Prison."

"Long range attacks? I don't think your Fire Bullet will work here, that sword looks like it'll just brush them away," Sasuke said.

"Did you really think that was the only think I know?" Naruto asked. "I've been training for a long time, I just decided not to show everything in the Academy." Sasuke just grunted and crouched down as he prepared to dash forward

"Great, more brats," Zabuza sighed.

"At least these look a little competent," Zabuza Bunshin 1 said.

"It doesn't matter, they're still brats in the end," Zabuza Bunshin 2 snapped.

"Will you two quit it?" Zabuza growled. "They're coming."

Kurenai, Sasuke and Hinata charged the clones while Naruto darted for the real Zabuza, but stopped when he reached the water.

Kurenai was alternating between both clones, not wanting to leave either one alone with the Genin. As she dashed away from one Sasuke was currently keeping on the defensive, she ran towards Hinata's opponent who's sword had a small dent in it, courtesy of a Jyuken palm strike. Since the Mizu Bunshin was weaker than the original, Kurenai was able to get behind it and drive her kunai into its side, dispelling the water construct, and allowing the two females to assist Sasuke.

_'What's this brat gonna do?'_ Zabuza thought as he stared at Naruto. _'He doesn't look like he knows the Water Walking Technique, so he might either use some kunai and shuriken, or a jutsu. I should be able to block any of them with Kubikiribocho.'_

But Zabuza, and Kakashi, were surprised when Naruto just drew back his fist and punched the air in front of him, and sent his gauntlet covered hand flying towards Zabuza. The Kirigakure no Kijin was able to position his sword just in time to deflect the arm and send it flying upwards and reveal that the arm was connected to Naruto by threads. Several more threads shot out of the connecting threads and aimed at Zabuza's arm that was holding the Water Prison. Deciding to keep his arm from getting any holes in them, Zabuza pulled his arm away, letting the Water Prison fall away.

"Little brat!" Zabuza roared as he went to dash towards Naruto, but his arm was then grasped in a vice grip, courtesy of Kakashi.

"Now, you're dealing with me," Kakashi said as he glared at Zabuza with his Sharingan, the red eye making the Jounin look menacing.

Everyone could feel the tension that was forming from the two high-level ninjas that were standing on the lake. Naruto quickly retracted his arm and jumped back to his sensei, who had already taken care of the clone with Hinata and Sasuke. Zabuza and Kakashi jumped back and Zabuza began to make hand seals.

"Ushi, Saru, U, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, Hitsuji, Ne."

"Ushi, Saru, U, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, Hitsuji, Ne," Kakashi started to make the same hand seals Zabuza made until he caught up to him. He then began to imitate Zabuza's every movement.

"Jin Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, U, I, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin Ne, I, Tori!" Both Jounin's finished their hand seals at the same time. The water they were standing on began to churn.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" Behind both Jounin, a pillar of water rose into the air where they took the form of dragons with yellow eyes. The two dragons clashed and cancelled each other out, exploding into a shower of water that washed over everyone.

"Woah! Is that a ninjutsu?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, a very powerful one though," Kurenai answered as she looked around the clearing, something was bothering her.

Kakashi and Zabuza were clashing blade and kunai before they jumped away. Zabuza then ran around the water, Kakashi copying his every movement. Zabuza's eyes widened in shock as Kakashi even copied his Kirigakure no Jutsu stance.

_'It's as if he knows what I'm-'_

"Going to do next," Kakashi finished Zabuza's thoughts, much to his shock.

_'Is he reading my mind?!'_ Zabuza thought._ 'He's looking at me with that-'_

"Freaky eye of his," Kakashi shocked Zabuza yet again.

Zabuza growled, "All you're going is copying me like a damn monkey!" He then began to make some hand seals when he saw a shadow behind Kakashi. Zabuza froze when the shadow cleared up, revealing him behind the Konoha Jounin.

_'Is that...ME?! Is this a Genjutsu?'_ Zabuza thought as his mind tried to comprehend what was happening.

Meanwhile, Kakashi finished the same hand seals that Zabuza made and executed the jutsu he was about to perform.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted as the water began to swirl around him.

"What?! But I was just about to perform that jutsu!" Zabuza cried out in disbelief. He was then swept up in a giant vortex that thrashed him around like a rag doll. The water vortex than tore through the forest, tearing down trees as they stood in the water's path. The Nukenin was then thrown against a tree, cracking the wood as he was pushed against it.

Several kunai flew through the air and imbedded themselves on various parts of Zabuza's upper body, just not hitting any vital spots. Zabuza cried out in agony as his flesh was pierced.

"Can you...see the future?" Zabuza asked as he looked up at Kakashi, who was standing on a tree branch.

"Yes...and your future is death," Kakashi declared as he raised up another kunai and prepared to strike it into the Nukenin's neck.

But before Kakashi could do anything, two senbon needles flew through the air and stabbed Zabuza in the neck. Zabuza's eyes went wide in shock as he slumped over in death.

Everyone looked up to see a young teenager in a white mask with red wavy designs that had the symbol for Kirigakure on the forehead. He had black hair gathered up in a white bun with two locks falling down each side of his mask. He wore a pinstriped outfit that stopped at his knees underneath a green haori with white edges and a brown sash wrapped around his waist.

"You were right, he is dead," the mysterious person said.

"W-who's t-that?" Hinata asked.

"He's a Hunter Ninja from Kirigakure no Sato," Kakashi answered as he kept his eye on him. Kurenai leapt towards Zabuza's body and placed her fingers on his neck for a momnet before pulling away.

"No pulse, he's dead," Kurenai said.

"I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for an opportunity like this," the Hunter said as he jumped down and landed on the ground. "I was starting to think that I would never be able to carry out my assignment."

Kurenai sighed and walked back to the Genin and Tazuna. Kakashi still kept his eye on the Hunter Ninja as he picked up Zabuza's body, Kubikiribocho still attached to the dead mans back.

"I'll be sure to mention your help to Mizukage-sama. You may get a part of the bounty if he's in a generous mood." The Hunter Ninja then vanished in a Shunshin with Zabuza's body.

_'No! Something's wrong!'_ Kakashi thought as he made an attempt to move forward. But he slumped to the ground face first.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed.

"Damn it...I'm practically out of chakra," Kakashi mumbled as Kurenai picked him up and threw an arm over her shoulder to support him.

Kurenai then took command since Kakashi was out of commission at the moment. "Sasuke, assist Kiba. Sakura, I want you to carry Akamaru."

"Are you nuts?! There's no way I'd touch that smelly dog!" Sakura screeched.

Kurenai aimed her KI at Sakura and said, "I gave you and order _Genin_ and you WILL carry it out." Scared for her life, Sakura picked up Akamaru, who whimpered as he smelt Sakura's scent, but did nothing.

Let it be known that Akamaru tried to stay away from Sakura due to the GALLONS of perfume that she would put on each day.

"Are you the client?" Kurenai asked as she turned to Tazuna.

"Yes, my name is Tazuna," the bridge builder answered.

Kurenai nodded and asked, "How far are we from your home? We need to get these three to get some form of medical treatment."

Tazuna nodded and said, "Yes of course, my house is about a half-hour from here."

"Excellent, Shino, I want you in the center of the group and surround us with your bugs to detect any more enemies. Hinata, I want you to take point and activate your Byakugan every five minutes. Naruto, you're going to cover us from behind," Kurenai said as she began to follow Tazuna towards his home.

* * *

(Later-Tazuna's House)

"Tsunami, I'm home!" Tazuna shouted as he opened the door to his house. A young woman with long dark hair appeared in the doorway and hugged Tazuna. She was wearing a pink shirt with red trimmings and a blue dress.

"Tou-san! You're home!" Tsunami exclaimed as she hugged her father. "Oh? Who are these people?" she asked when she saw the Konoha ninja behind Tazuna.

"These are the ninja that protected me on the way here," Tazuna said.

"Ma'am, can we please come inside? Three of us need some medical attention," Kurenai asked.

"Oh! Yes, please come in," Tsunami ushered everyone inside the house. Just then, a little boy wearing green overalls and a fisherman's hat walked downstairs.

"Kaa-chan, who are these people?" he asked Tsunami.

Tsunami smiled and said, "These are the ninja that helped your Jiji get home safetly."

The boy glared at the Konoha shinobi and said, "They should just leave, they're going to die." he then ran upstairs.

"Inari!" Tsunami yelled.

"Who does that little brat think he is?" Naruto growled, not liking Inari's attitude.

Hinata put a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm s-sure that I-Inari-san didn't mean it." Naruto calmed down and sent a grateful smile at Hinata, who just blushed and began to poke her index fingers together.

"Do you have anywhere I can put him?" Kurenai asked, gesturing to the comatose Kakashi.

Tsumani nodded, "Yes, there's a guest room upstairs, let me show you." She then lead Kurenai upstairs, leaving everyone else downstairs.

"Man, this was supposed to be a simple escort mission," Kiba said as Sasuke helped him sit on a nearby chair. Sakura handed Akamaru to his master who rubbed the dog's back soothingly.

Naruto sighed and said, "Iruka-sensei always told us something like this would happen."

Kiba looked at him with a confused expression and asked, "When was that lesson?"

"I believe it was when you were absent because of an Inuzuka holiday," Shino answered.

"I think it w-was B-Breeding Day," Hinata said, blushing heavily at the thoughts that entered her head when she thought about the specifics of the day entered her mind. Only her thoughts involved her and a certain blond person in place of dogs. She quickly turned away and wiped her nosebleed before anyone could notice.

"Oh right, every single clan member needs to be there to help control the dogs and make sure they're out of sight," Kiba explained.

"Is that why you were covered in scratches and bite marks when you came in the next day?" Naruto asked. Kiba paled at the memory of what happened and just nodded in confirmation.

Kurenai and Tsunami then came back downstairs and stood before the Genin while Tazuna's daughter went to the kitchen counter.

"I think it's time we turned in for the night," Kurenai said. "But, there's a problem with the rooming. There isn't enough space for everyone in either Tsunami-san's roon, or the guest room, and Tazuna's room is to small for anyone else, so a boy and a girl will have to sleep in the living room.

"I nominate me and Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled. Once everyone regained their hearing, Kurenai turned to face Sakura and gave her another glare that made the pinkette shrink in fear.

"You two will not be paired together because YOU will let your personal feelings get out of hand and cause something bad for everyone," Kurenai told her. _'Plus, I don't want to have Sasuke be near a fangirl amy more than he needs to be. He's already been traumatized by Itachi.'_

Kiba then motioned for Kurenai to come closer so he could whisper something. Kurenai came closer and listened to what Kiba had to say, and a small mischievous grin came on her face before she pulled away.

"How about we draw kunai to decide?" Kurenai suggested. She then pulled out several kunai and placed a Genjutsu on one of them so that there was a red mark on one of the handles. She then closed her hand around the kunai so nobody could see that mark, and shuffled the kunai around a little before holding out her hand. The girls all grabbed one and it was Hinata who had the marked kunai.

"Looks like Hinata's sleeping in the living room," Kurenai said. The young Hyuga blushed when everyone's attention was on her. Kurenai then pulled out another kunai and added it to the group before shuffling them again.

_'She better not get stuck with Sasuke-kun.' **'Yeah! He's ours!**** CHA!'**_ Sakura and her Inner self growled.

The boys pulled their kunai and revealed that it was Naruto who had the marked kunai.

_'I'll be sleeping in the same room as Naruto-kun!'_ Hinata squealed in her head.

_'Oh no! Hiashi-sama's gonna kill me if he finds out about this! But that's only if Hitomi-obaa-chan doesn't get to me first!'_ Naruto panicked. Kurenai quietly giggled when she saw Naruto's panicked face and Hinata's dreamy one.

Later, when everyone was getting ready to go to sleep, Naruto was sitting on the pull-out bed that came from the sofa. He was wearing his black shirt and green shorts that had white stripes on them. Naruto swore that he had his sleeping cap in his bag, but he guessed he forgot it back in Konoha.

Meanwhile, Hinata was in the bathroom looking herself over in the mirror. She had reread a chapter of _How to Get Your Crush to Notice You_, a book given to her by Hanabi a year ago. That particular chapter had talked about a situation similar to the one she was in. Hinata took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself, she then reached into her bag and pulled out the final piece of her pajamas that was sure to catch Naruto's attention.

Naruto was laying down on the bed when he heard soft footsteps coming down the hallway. Naruto looked up, only for his jaw to introduce itself to the floor.

Hinata was standing there while slightly blushing. She was wearing lavender shorts that just reached the top of her knees. She also wore a matching shirt that was cut off at the bottom, leaving a little of her stomach exposed. But the thing that really caught Naruto's eye, was his sleeping cap that was resting on her head.

"H-hello Naruto-kun. I h-hope you don't m-mind, but my h-head was a l-little cold" Hinata greeted as she turned her gaze over to the blond while giving a small, cute smile. Naruto began to blush at how cute Hinata looked.

"S-so...how are we gonna sleep?" Naruto asked.

"Umm...o-one of us c-could sleep on t-top of t-the covers," Hinata suggested.

Naruto smiled at the idea and said, "You're so smart Hinata-chan. I never would have thought about that." Hinata blushed under the praise. She then got underneath the covers and began to snuggle into the pillow. Naruto laid down and placed his hands behind his head before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Hinata gazed at Naruto as he slept, looking intently at his peaceful face. Deciding to fulfill a part of her curiosity, she reached over and lightly scratched one of his whisker marks. She pulled away instantly when Naruto let out a mix between a moan and a purr. Hinata began to giggle when she saw that Naruto had a happier look on his face. She closed her eyes and went to sleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

(Konoha)

The Sandaime was doing one of his favorite pastimes when he was done being Hokage for the day, painting. He was painting a picture of the Hokage monument and had just finished making the Yondaime's face. He was contemplating whether to put Naruto's face in place of the Godaime, or to leave it blank. He decided to start making Naruto the Godaime, thinking that the painting would make a good birthday present for the Jinchuriki.

"Hokage-sama," an ANBU greeted as he Shunshin'd into the room.

Hiruzen sighed and put down his paintbrush before addressing the ANBU. "Yes Hummingbird, what is it?"

Hummingbird was one of Hiruzen's personal ANBU members, and the leader of the ROOT Surveillance Squad. Even though Danzo was one of Hiruzen's former teammates, he kept too many dark secrets that could harm Konoha.

"We've found something that you WILL want to see," Hummingbird said as he pulled out a scroll and unsealed a folder before placing it on the desk. Hiruzen took the folder and opened it before reading one sentence and his eyes widened in complete and utter shock.

"Are you certain about this?" Hiruzen asked as he stared at the information.

"Our mole is absolutely certain about this, he's seen it for himself," Hummingbird said. Hiruzen sighed, things were going to get really crazy around here.

"We need to assemble a team, we can't allow Danzo to get away with this. We also have to make it look like an escape so he doesn't suspect anything," Hiruzen said.

"I'll get on it right away, do you want Tenzo on the team?" the ANBU asked.

"Yes, we'll need his knowledge of the base layout in order to make this the perfect breakout," Hiruzen said. Hummingbird nodded and Shunshin'd away, leaving the aged Hokage to his thoughts.

* * *

**Cut! That's a wrap people!**

**Now that we're starting with the Wave Arc, things are gonna get exciting. Not to mention I've got a few surprises in mind for you guys along the way.**

**Now don't even try to guess what Danzo-teme's up to, you'll never figure it out until Naruto and everyone get back to Konoha. I'm sure that you'll be shocked to the core when you see what I've got in mind.**

**I've got a need for help on something. What do you guys think I should do to replace the Search for Tsunade Arc since she's already in Konoha? I don't want to do the Land of Snow movie until after whatever it is you decide.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	10. Chapter 10: Wave Arc 2

Chapter 10: Wave Arc 2

* * *

**Time for another wonderful chapter of the best Jiongu story on this website!**

**I have received MANY complaints about whether I am underestimating Uzushiogakure's strength. I honestly thought that 93% seemed like a reasonable number. Just wait until I reveal the REAL numbers later in the story.**

**I got a lot of suggestions for what to do to replace the Search for Tsunade Arc, and I have made a decision. But I'm not going to tell anyone, that would be giving away spoilers. But I can tell you that it will be exciting.**

**Now then, let the party begin!**

* * *

(Tazuna's House)

Kurenai sat up in her bed as she tied her headband onto her forehead, ready to work for the day. Looking around, she saw that Sakura was still asleep and that Tsunami was also out of bed and downstairs making some breakfast. The female Jounin walked downstairs and saw that Kiba was already awake along with Akamaru, with amused expression on his face.

"What's so funny?" Kurenai asked. Kiba just smiled and jerked his head to the left. Kurenai looked over and saw something that caused her to almost burst out laughing.

On the bed in the living room were a sleeping Naruto and Hinata, but that wasn't the funny part. What was funny to Kurenai was the fact that they shifted during the night and ended up in an amusing position, since neither of them would be caught dead like that.

Hinata had her head resting on Naruto's chest and had her arms wrapped around his torso like a small child when they went to sleep with their favorite teddy bear, also pinning one of his arms against his body. Naruto had one arm draped over her back protectively. Not wanting to let this cute moment go to waste and be forgotten, Kurenai took out her camera and snapped a picture of the two.

_'This would make great blackmail,'_ Kurenai thought sinisterly.

"This is the only time I've ever seen Naruto not move in his sleep," Kiba said.

Kurenai gave him a look and asked, "Do you watch him sleep?"

Kiba shook his head and told her, "Nah, it's just that whenever me, him, Shikamaru, Choji and sometimes Shino would have a sleepover, he would always move around in his sleep. Sometimes he kicked the person next to him."

Kurenai giggled at the image in her head of a sleeping Naruto kicking Kiba in the head. She then went over to the bed and opened the blinds, letting the sunlight shine onto Naruto's closed eyes. Naruto groaned as the light shone on him and woke him up. He went to stretch his arms, only to find that one of them was pinned to his body. He opened his eyes to see something blue in his vision. As soon as his vision cleared, he saw that the 'blue thing' was Hinata's head on his chest, causing him to blush furiously.

"Help..." Naruto squeaked as he tried to squirm his way out, but Hinata just tightened her grip. He looked over and saw that Kiba and Kurenai were just standing there while holding in their laughter. Naruto poked Hinata in the side, causing her to slightly move, but nothing else happened. Seeing that her feet were bare, Naruto sent over a few threads and had them wiggle over her soles.

The results were instantaneous, Hinata began to squirm while letting out soft giggles. She began to move around, but still held on to Naruto like he was a lifeline. He was able to slip his pinned arm out and then scribbled his fingers all over Hinata's sides. The young Hyuga woke up and burst out laughing and rolled off of Naruto to try and get away from him. Naruto retracted his threads and observed Hinata as she laid down on the bed, hugging her feet close to her while letting out a few more giggles.

"Naruto-kun...you're...evil..." Hinata huffed as she tried to catch her breath. Naruto just chuckled and got off of the bed before heading to the bathroom to change. Hinata looked up and saw that Kiba and Kurenai finally let out their laughter while Akamaru barked in amusement.

"Wh-what's so f-funny?" Hinata asked, already blushing.

Kiba grinned and said, "Oh nothing, just watching you two snuggle with happy grins on your faces." Hinata shook her head in denial, but stared with wide eyes when Kurenai pulled out the picture she took.

"You seemed very happy with your situation," Kurenai said with a grin. Hinata then fainted in embarrassment, causing the two to laugh. Naruto exited the bathroom, changed into his normal attire, and looked down at the fainted Hinata before seeing the two laughing shinobi. He then grew a evil grin.

"Kurenai-sensei! Don't eat the last cinnamon bun!" Naruto yelled. Kurenai raised her eyebrow in confusion while Kiba paled and backed away from the older woman. The next thing Kurenai knew, she was flat on her back with a crazy Hinata grabbing the front of her dress with a crazed look in her eyes.

"WHERE IS IT?!" Hinata screamed. Kurenai stared at her student with shocked eyes while Naruto rolled around laughing in the background. His laughter knocked Hinata out of her crazed state and she looked around to see that she was pinning her sensei to the floor.

"EEP!" Hinata jumped back in shock and grabbed her clothes before racing into the bathroom. Kurenai wondered if Hinata had somehow discovered the Hiraishin.

"What...was that?" Kurenai asked as she got up.

Naruto got up while still smiling and said, "Hinata-chan thinking that you were going to eat a cinnamon bun."

"The same thing happened to Naruto on the first day of the Academy," Kiba muttered, Akamaru barked in agreement. He then turned to Naruto and asked, "So what's with the thread ability? You never showed that in the Academy."

Naruto contemplated whether or not to tell Kiba about the Jiongu when he remembered that he was one of his best friends in the Academy.

"Can you keep a secret?" Naruto asked. Kiba nodded and Naruto asked Kurenai to make sure that nobody else of Team 7 was around, to which she confirmed. Naruto had already told the rest of Team 8 after two months on the job, feeling that he could trust them. Naruto then went to explain his Jiongu and what it does to Kiba and Akamaru.

Kiba whistled and said, "That's a cool ability, makes you a badass ninja. Though the whole 'make my extra hearts fight' thing creeps me out a little."

"Yeah, it was a little disturbing at first, but I got used to it," Naruto said.

"There is something that I forgot to ask about your hearts," Kurenai began, "how do you sleep with them on your back? Doesn't it bother you?"

Naruto grinned and snapped his fingers. Sneaking into the house through the front door was Fox and Titan. The two constructs then walked over to Naruto before reattaching themselves to his back underneath his coat.

"I let them out when I sleep," Naruto said, "I found out on the first night I put the heart in the mask that it can be a little uncomfortable."

"Ha! Always count on Naruto to find a way out of a problem," Kiba said. Kurenai just shook her head and went to assist Tsunami in making breakfast. Hinata walked out of the bathroom, dressed and still sporting a blush on her face.

Kiba grinned and asked, "Any reasons I'm smelling pheromones this morning?" Hinata blushed a burning red and ran into the kitchen, leaving Kiba to fall out of the chair laughing.

Later, everyone except Kakashi were in the kitchen eating breakfast. It wasn't anything special, just some steamed rice and grilled fish.

"So what are we going to do Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked.

The female Jounin put down her chopsticks and said, "Well, there was something that I realized last night. Zabuza is alive."

To say that the Genin were shocked would be an understatement. Sakura paled in horror, Kiba and Hinata looked worried, Akamaru whimpered and hid himself in Kiba's jacket, Naruto and Shino showed no outward emotion, and Sasuke smirked at the chance to fight a strong opponent again.

"W-why do y-you think that s-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"That Hunter ninja, he used senbon needles to take down Zabuza. Senbon are meant to incapacitate or help with acupuncture. But that Hunter struck Zabuza in an area in the neck that will put someone in a death-like state, I must have missed the pulse when I was checking him," Kurenai said.

"So he was an accomplice," Shino told her.

Kurenai nodded. "Most likely. Hunter ninjas also destroy the body right away after taking the head. Taking anything other than the head or what the Kage wants from the Nukenin is considered treason."

"So we might have to fight both of them eventually," Naruto noted.

"Yes, but Zabuza's injuries will take at least a week to heal, so we have time to train and prepare," Kurenai said, she then got up and said, "I'm going to check on Kakashi and see if he's up."

Kurenai went upstairs and entered Kakashi's room to see the Copy Cat sitting up and rubbing his normal eye.

"How are you feeling?" Kurenai asked.

Kakashi turned to her and said, "Feeling better, thought I can't feel my legs too much, might have strained them a little."

"Take it easy then," Kurenai told him. "Do you know that Zabuza's alive?"

Kakashi nodded. "I was about to say something, but I collapsed and couldn't tell you or the kids."

"I was planning on taking your team to train with mine to help them prepare for whenever Zabuza comes back," Kurenai said. Kakashi nodded and laid back down again, closing his eye to relax.

Kurenai went back downstairs and took the Genin outside and into the nearby forest. She brought them to an area where there was a nearby lake and large thick trees.

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked, annoyed by it being an area where he couldn't practice any of his Katon jutsu.

"We're going to work on your chakra control, but first, I need to know what Kakashi's been teaching you guys," Kurenai told him.

"We've been working on teamwork exercises," Kiba told her.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Uhh, that's it," Kiba said. Kurenai sighed and tossed a kunai to each member of Team 7 before having them face a tree.

"Since Kakashi seems to look like he doesn't know how to be a proper teacher, you guys are going to learn how to climb trees."

"But we learned how to do that in the Academy," Sakura protested. Kurenai just sent her a sideways glance and walked up to a tree before walking up the tree. The members of Team 7 stared at her in awe at the female Jounin.

"How did you do that?" Kiba asked.

"You gather chakra in the soles of your feet and use it to climb the tree. But be careful, if you use too much you'll go flying off, and using too little won't allow your feet to stick to the tree," Kurenai explained. "Use the kunai to mark your progress."

"And what are they going to do?" Kiba asked, motioning to Team 8.

"We a-already know this e-exercise, so w-we're going to l-learn the Water W-Walking Technique," Hinata said. Sasuke glared at them with jealousy, seeing that they already knew something that he didn't. Kurenai popped in a Soldier Pill and made a Kage Bunshin to watch Team 7, and then took her team to the nearby lake.

"Now then, Water Walking is the same as Tree Walking, but instead of just letting out a set amount of chakra, you have to constantly change it because of the moving water," Kurenai explained. She then focused chakra into her feet and walked onto the lake, like how Kakashi and Zabuza did when they fought.

"Hinata, I want you to use your Byakugan and tell me what you see," Kurenai said as she faced her students. Hinata nodded and activated her Byakugan before taking a close examination at Kurenai's feet as they expelled chakra.

"You're s-sending out chakra a-at stronger p-points when the wa-water shifts in o-order to keep y-your balance," Hinata said.

Kurenai nodded and said, "Very good, now I want you guys to try this, but you should remove your jackets so you don't get a cold."

Naruto nodded and took off his trenchcoat, revealing his masks to the world. He then released them and had Fox and Titan hide in the trees in case Sasuke or Sakura came by. Shino hesitated a moment before taking off his coat, revealing a black shirt with mesh armor underneath.

Hinata had the hardest time as she was VERY nervous about taking off her jacket. She was self-conscious about her appearance and was afraid about getting any negative comments. Deciding to risk it, she took off her jacket, revealing her light blue blouse underneath that hugged her body somewhat. When Hinata looked up, she saw Naruto turned away with a large blush, Shino turned away with red ears, and Kurenai staring at her with small hints of jealousy.

"I-i-is something w-wrong?" Hinata asked nervously.

"I'm just jealous," Kurenai told her, "I never had a figure that good when I was a Genin." Hinata just blushed and looked away, but on the inside...

_'Naruto-kun's blushing! That means he finds me attractive!'_ Hinata squealed in her head, marking up her little victory.

The three Genin then started to practice. Naruto added too much chakra and was launched into the air, landing in a tree. Shino added too little and sunk into the water, only to come up later with an angry buzzing sound as his insects left his body to get away from the cold water.

"I think my insects are angry with me," Shino said.

"What tipped you off? The angry buzzing?" Naruto asked with some sarcasm.

Hinata took a step on the lake and tested her technique, once she was satisfied, she took several more steps. Eventually she was 10 feet away from the shore and sunk only to her ankles.

"Very good Hinata, looks like those Hyuga's are good for their chakra control lessons," Kurenai said. Naruto was sunk up to his chest and gave Hinata a grin that made her lose her focus, sending her into the lake with a shriek. She came back up with a gasp and practically flashed to the shore where she began to shiver, but what she didn't know was that Naruto was staring at her with a large blush since her wet shirt hugged her body more, resulting in Naruto getting a slight nosebleed. It didn't help that the heated chakra of the Kyuubi prevented the cold water he was in from knocking him out of his trance. Kurenai noticed this and lightly giggled, seeing that Naruto was attracted to Hinata.

* * *

(Next Day-Bridge)

Naruto was watching Tazuna since it was his turn for the day. Kakashi was better and able to help his team, but was restricted to crutches for the time being. Naruto was sitting on a beam while keeping an eye on Tazuna and his workers, not that there were a lot of them anyway.

Tazuna was welding some metal together when one of the workers came up to him. "Yes Gichi? What is it?"

"I'm sorry Tazuna, but I can't keep doing this," Gichi said. "Gato's going to make everything worse if we keep doing this."

"Gichi! You can't do this! If you leave, then it'll take longer to finish the bridge! Do you want this country to remain poor and dying?" Tazuna asked.

Gichi shook his head and said, "I just can't keep risking my family's lives like this."

Tazuna shook his head and continued to work. "Then go, I have no need for cowards on this construction crew." Gichi sighed and walked off of the bridge. Tazuna then turned to Naruto and said, "It's been like this for while, people are starting to get scared of Gato and are leaving to try and stay out of this."

"So you need workers?" Naruto asked as he hopped off the beam and stood before the elderly man. "Then I've got you covered. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" At least a hundred copies of Naruto appeared. "Just tell them what you need done."

Tazuna stared at the large group in disbelief before he shook his head and said, "You're just the kind of person I need. Let's get to work."

* * *

(Meanwhile-In Town)

Hinata and Kiba were accompanying Tsunami through town as she went to pick up groceries. Kiba was able to stay on the tree for ten minutes and Akamaru was able to stay on for seven, allowing them to accompany Tsunami since Shino was to watch the house.

"Man, it's so depressing here," Kiba said as he looked around. Buildings were falling apart and surrounded by junk, and the people were practically wearing rags that looked like they were stitched togther.

"It's all because of Gato that the town is like this. Before he came here it was a very lively and happy place," Tsunami explained.

"I-it's so sad," Hinata whispered. She felt a tug on the back of her jacket and whirled around to see a little girl who held up her hands and gave Hinata a smile. Realizing that the girl wanted food, Hinata dug into her pockets and pulled out a few pieces of candy and handed it to the girl. The girls smile got bigger and she gave Hinata a quick hug before running off.

Tsunami smiled at the scene and said, "We need more people like you around here."

Kiba grinned and put in his two cents, "Yeah, Hinata's one of the kindest people in Konoha, and the only girl in our class with a brain."

"Why do you say that?" Tsunami asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All of the other girls have gone gaga over Sasuke, the guy with the duck hair," Kiba explained.

"Why would they do that? He doesn't seem like anyone special?" Tsunami said. Kiba couldn't help but grin and laugh, wondering how the Uchiha would take it if she said it to his face.

* * *

(Zabuza's Hideout)

The Kirigakure no Kijin was resting on his bed, the Kubikiribocho resting on the side of the bed. A small, ugly, fat man entered the room with two thugs and approached the sleeping Nukenin.

"Ha! So much for the 'Demon', you were beaten by a bunch of brats and their babysitters." Gato then went to reach for Zabuza's mouth bandages before his arm was gripped rather tightly by the fake Hunter Ninja.

"Don't touch Zabuza-sama with your filthy hands," he growled.

"Let go of my arm!" Gato yelled as he struggled to get his arm free. The two thugs then popped their swords out of their scabbards and were about to attack until the fake Hunter disappeared and reappeared with their swords at the thugs throats.

"Don't mess with me, I'm in a bad mood," he said.

"Grrr, you better kill that bridge builder or you'll never get paid!" Gato yelled as he and his goons stormed out of the hideout.

Zabuza, who was awake the whole time, turned to the Hunter and said, "You didn't have to do that, Haku."

Haku gave a small smile and said, "I know, but we need him around for a little while longer. It wouldn't be very beneficial to kill him until after we get paid."

"That's IF we get paid, he's been deducting from us for the tiniest problem," Zabuza groaned.

Haku smirked and said, "Maybe we should raid his vault and leave when least expects it."

"You, are an evil genius," Zabuza praised.

* * *

(Several Days Later-Tazuna's House)

It was dinner time at the bridge builders house once again. Today Tsunami had found some crab in the market for a reasonable price to go with the tuna, which Hinata politely asked to be off of her plate. The large group was eating dinner quietly when Sakura noticed something.

"I noticed that the picture on the wall's torn, does it mean anything?" she asked. The family froze when Sakura spoke and the mood instantly turned somber.

"The person in that photo was a hero," Tazuna said. Inari immediately got up and stormed up to his room.

"Inari! Tou-san! You know better than to talk about him like that in front of Inari!" Tsunami scolded.

Tazuna turned to her and said, "If he wants to deny the truth then let him, I still believe that Kaiza was a hero." Tazuna then began to explain to the Konoha ninja about Kaiza and how he helped Nami in the past. From saving Inari from drowning to helping to close the dam in the flood. He also told them about how Gato had Kaiza's arms taken off before he was executed for resisting him.

"This just makes me want to get this Gato guy even more," Naruto said as he gripped the edge of the table tightly.

"I have to agree with you there Naruto, I don't have any particular love for this country, but it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if we just left the country like this," Kakashi said.

"Why do you still try!?" Inari yelled, coming from the staircase, having not gone to his room in order to listen.

"Because we've got a job to protect your Jiji, and we don't back down from a mission," Naruto said.

"It doesn't matter! None of you will live if you fight against Gato! He's too strong to beat!" Inari yelled.

Naruto shrugged. "How can he be strong? We're ninja and he's just a little man with money." The rest of the Konoha ninja nodded in agreement, except Sasuke and Sakura, because Sasuke wouldn't be caught dead agreeing with Naruto, and because Sasuke didn't agree with him.

"Stop trying to be a hero! You don't even understand what we're going through because you all live comfortable lives! You don't understand what it means to suffer!" The room temperature dropped several degrees, stopping Inari in his tracks and causing most of the occupants to start sweating.

Everyone turned to see Naruto shaking with his hair shadowing his eyes. He then turned around and stormed out of the house, leaving most of the group to wonder what was his problem.

"That was the wrong thing to say," Kakashi said.

"What do you mean sensei?" Kiba asked.

Kakashi sighed and began, "Naruto's been alone for the first four years of his life and was kicked out of the orphanage at the age of four years old. The only people who cared for him were the Hokage, the Ichiraku family, and Tsunade-sama. Even then, he still felt alone until he met his first friend, Hinata." The young girl couldn't believe that she had such an impact on Naruto's life. "You say that Naruto doesn't understand suffering, well he goes home to an empty house every day while you still have your mother and grandfather."

"You say that I don't understand suffering? Well let me tell you something, my mother died giving birth to me, my father killed himself after being scorned by the village for failing a mission, both of my best friends died right in front of my eyes, and my sensei who I thought of as a father sacrificed himself to save the village," Kakashi told the boy. "So you tell me, do I know suffering or not?" he then walked upstairs to his room.

"My family was killed all in one night," Sasuke said as he walked off to brood.

"Most of the village avoids my clan because of our special abilities," Shino said.

"M-most of my c-clan hates m-me because I w-want to change t-tradition," Hinata whispered. Inari just said nothing and ran off into his room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

(Next Morning)

Naruto was asleep in the clearing, having worked off his rage by throwing himself into his training. Currently, he was surrounded by trees that were either burned, slashed, impaled, or smashed.

Haku had entered the clearing with a basket while searching for some herbs to help head Zabuza. The fake Hunter found Naruto and knelt down next to him, contemplating whether or not to kill him now. Haku sighed before deciding to shake Naruto awake.

_'I'm too soft,'_ Haku thought, watching as Naruto opened his eyes.

"Ugh...five more minutes Baa-chan..." Naruto mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. He opened them to see a pretty woman standing over him

Naruto jumped to his feet and began to introduced himself with a blush, "My name's Naruko Uzunako, I mean Naruto Uzumaki!" _'She's almost as pretty as Hinata-chan! Wait...where did that come from?'_

"Nice to meet you, my name is Haku. What were you doing out here?" Haku asked.

"Nothing much, just training," Naruto answered.

"Are you a ninja?" Haku asked, setting down the basket.

Naruto grinned and said, "Yeah, I'm aiming to be one of the best there is."

"Oh? But aren't you strong already?" Haku asked, wanting to see Naruto's goals.

Then Jinchuriki shook his head and told Haku, "I need to be stronger, so that way I'll be able to help everyone who I care about."

"So you fight to protect your precious people, then that does make you strong," Haku told him. Naruto gave a confused look so Haku continued, "I believe that people can be truly strong when they are protecting a person who is precious to them."

"So do you have any precious people?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, my...father is the only person left in my life," Haku said.

"Must be nice to have him," Naruto muttered.

"What do you mean by that?" Haku asked.

"I'm just wondering how nice it might feel to have parents," Naruto said.

Haku raised an eyebrow and asked, "Don't you have parents?"

"No," Naruto shook his head, "I grew up as an orphan, nobody knows who they were, but I try not to think about since it doesn't matter anymore."

"I'm...sorry, I can't even imagine what it might feel like to not know who your parents were," Haku said.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter," Naruto said.

"Well, it was nice speaking with you, but I should get back to my father in case he starts to worry," Haku said, standing up and grabbing the basket. Haku stopped before the edge of the forest and said, "By the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto stared there with his mouth on the floor. _'It's impossible for a guy to be almost as pretty as Hinata-chan! Gah! There it is again!'_

* * *

(Konoha)

Hiruzen was sitting at his desk with a black eye, courtesy of Tsunade for not telling her about what Hummingbird found right away. But considering that he got the news late at night, she only gave him a light beating. He was very lucky when Tsunade understood that she couldn't be a part of the mission, since stealth was never her strong point.

The Sandaime stared at a map of ROOT headquarters that Tenzo had made from memory. He was marking areas that seemed like good places to enter while writing down notes about the base.

"Hokage-sama, everyone's ready," Hummingbird said as he entered the room. The Hokage nodded and got up before following the ANBU member into a separate room where six other ANBU members were. They were Tenzo, Falcon, Boar, Deer, Chameleon, and Wolf. All of them are top members of the Root Surveillance Squad.

"Hokage-sama," all the ANBU members stood up to address their leader.

"Please be seated," Hiruzen ordered. The ANBU complied and the Sandaime took his place at the head of the table. He opened the files that were at his end and said, "I'm sure that you all know about the mission you're going on, but I'll repeat it in case anyone forgot."

"Our mole within ROOT has discovered that Danzo has been keeping two very important people captive in his base in the attempt to create the ultimate shinobi, and one of them is the result of that experiment, but is considered a failure due to not growing as fast as Danzo has hoped. So I need you to go into the base and break them out."

"Hokage-sama, wouldn't it be easier to just storm in and demand them like you did for me?" Tenzo asked.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "It only worked to get you because Kakashi already knew of your existence and informed me, and because I used the argument that your abilities would be able to subdue Naruto should he ever lose control in the village. Because nobody has made official contact with them, it would be practically impossible to get Danzo to hand them over."

"What are the chances of running into any ROOT?" Wolf asked.

"Not that much, the prisoners are kept within an abandoned part of the facility where other failures are. So there isn't that much of a chance to encounter anybody," Hiruzen told them.

Deer then asked, "Are we to make it look like a breakout to avoid any suspicion?"

"If you can manage it, then do it. Any more questions?" Hiruzen asked.

Falcon then asked, "Do these two have any relation to...you-know-who?"

"That question will be answered when Tsunade gets to look at them, until then we aren't absolutely sure." The Sandaime then got up and told the group, "The mission will commence as when Hummingbird deems necessary."

* * *

**Finished! Chapter is complete!**

**So now we're almost finished with the Wave Arc, next chapter is gonna be the last one, and our little mystery with Danzo will be revealed after the next chapter. I'm only going to show the rescue and escape, but you guys won't be getting any hints as to who's there.**

**So as I've said before, I've already made a decision on what to do to replace the Tsunade Arc. I think you guys will love it because a lot of exciting things will happen, though some of them might seem similar since Akatsuki have to appear in the arc.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	11. Chapter 11: Wave Arc 3

Chapter 11: Wave Arc 3

* * *

**Welcome back my many, ****_many, _****loyal fans! I trust your time away from this wonderful story was pleasant, yes?**

**So now we're ending the Wave Arc with the historic event of the battle on the bridge, and there are a few things that are going to be changed. I will also explain those changes at the end of the chapter to help you guys understand what had happened.**

**PLEASE READ THIS NEXT PART! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!**

**I am so SO sorry. I just looked back at what I said for the attack on Uzu and I saw that I wrote that 93% of the enemy SURVIVED. I meant to say that 93% DIED, but apparently my brother admitted that he changed it to _survive_ when I wasn't writing, and I was about 1,000 words away from that sentence so I never knew until I read the reviews closely. I've gone back and fixed that so future readers won't complain.  
**

**Please forgive me for my stupidity.**

**Another thing, people have been asking me about how a civilian can get past trained ninja and the Hokage in Chapter 1 to attack Naruto. Allow me to explain, it was the best scenario I could come up with, and the ones I saw in the other Jiongu stories said that he _stumbled_ upon the scroll from a loose floorboard, or that Kakuzu gave it to him. I wanted to make Naruto's receiving of the Jiongu unique, so Chapter 1's events were what I came up with**

**I apologize for this being late, but I had a lot of trouble coming up with the events that are in this chapter. I wanted to make it different and unique while changing things from canon to what I think would have been better.**

**Let's begin.**

* * *

(Tazuna's House)

Shino had just closed the door to his room after laying Naruto on the bed. The blond had worked himself to exhaustion in order to try and perfect a secret technique that he was working on. The bug user walked downstairs where everyone else was waiting.

"He's in a bed," Shino said.

Kurenai nodded and Kakashi said, "This is most likely when Zabuza and his accomplice will attack, so everyone's going to the bridge in order to help protect Tazuna. But I'm going to have to ask that you stay here Kiba."

"Why? I can help!" The young Inuzuka protested.

"With Akamaru still hurt, your attacks are going to be less effective, and I have a feeling that Gato might send some of his thugs here to take Inari and/or Tsunami hostages," Kakashi explained.

Kiba sighed and said, "Alright, but you guys better kick some ass for me!"

"To be precise, we aren't going to be kicking anyone while we're fighting," Shino said.

Everyone stared at Shino and Kiba placed a hand on the Aburame's shoulder and said, "Shino, my friend, it's an expression, not something I literally meant.

"Then why did you not say something more accurate?" Shino asked.

"Okay, we're going to work on your people skills some more when we get back to Konoha," Kiba told him.

"Can we get a move on?" Sasuke grunted as he _patiently_ stood near the door while trying to get away from Sakura, who was trying to cling to his arm.

Kakashi sighed, Sasuke might have been a prodigy, but failed to grasp what he has been trying to teach him and Sakura from day one. That fighting alongside his allies would be better for him, but the young Uchiha would rather use his teammates as meat shields. It didn't help that Sakura would rather help Sasuke instead of anyone else either. In fact, Kiba was the only reason that they passed his test since he was able to convince the two to work together.

"Alright then, let's get moving," Kurenai said.

* * *

(Zabuza's Hideout)

The Kirigakure no Kijin crushed an apple with his hand and grinned under his bandages. He then stood up and swung his mighty sword over himself until it rested on the magnet attached to his belt. This time, he was wearing a shirt.

"Once again, you've outdone ourself with your medicine Haku," Zabuza praised as he fixed his mouth bandages.

"It was nothing Zabuza-sama, are we going to attack the bridge builder today?" Haku asked.

Zabuza nodded, and the door opened, revealing Gato, his two bodyguards, and another figure. He was about 26 years old and wearing a grey sleeveless vest and black pants with armored shins. He had black fingerless gloves and black shinobi sandals. The most noticeable part about him was his bandana that had the emblem for Kumogakure no Sato, only with a slash through it, signaling that this was a Nukenin.

"Who's this?" Zabuza asked.

"This is Ren Boruto, another criminal I hired to make sure that you two kill the bridge builder," Gato told him.

"We don't need a babysitter," Zabuza said, glaring at the midget and his thugs.

"Don't think of me as a babysitter, think of me as an...acquaintance. Once this mission is over, we won't see each other unless we're after each others bounties," Ren told him. Zabuza's danger meter rose when he heard these words, since Nukenin don't really talk about their bounties unless they were in a ceasefire zone, which this most definitely was not.

Haku gave Zabuza a sideways glance through his mask, not trusting Ren at all. _'The name Boruto sounds somewhat familiar. Perhaps Zabuza-sama knows.'_

Zabuza sighed and said, "Fine, but don't get in my way. Or you'll find out how painful it is to be bisected down the middle." Ren gulped and began to sweat a little.

* * *

(Later-Bridge)

The Konoha ninja and Tazuna had arrived at the bridge to see that there was a thick fog covering the area. Further into the bridge, everyone saw that the workers were either knocked out or incapacitated.

"What...what happened?" Tazuna asked as he took a step back.

"Everyone get ready, Zabuza is here," Kakashi said as he drew a kunai.

"Perceptive aren't you Kakashi?" Zabuza's voice rang out. Everyone tensed as they tried to pinpoint the Nukenin's location. Ten figures stepped out of the mist, revealing themselves to be Mizu Bunshin's of Zabuza.

"Decided to send your clones to take care of something you can't?" Kakashi asked as he lazily looked at the clones.

The real Zabuza could be heard scoffing. "Yeah right. But I've got one of your gaki's shaking like a leaf."

Sasuke was indeed shaking, but when he looked up, his eyes only showed determination. "I'm shaking...with excitement." Sasuke then vanished and reappeared next to Kakashi, and all of the Mizu Bunshin fell apart. Zabuza and his partners appeared on the opposite side of the bridge as the mist cleared up a little.

"Looks like you have a rival in speed Haku," Zabuza informed his partner.

Haku nodded. "So it appears."

"Who's your new friend?" Kurenai asked when she saw Ren.

Zabuza bit back a groan and said, "Ren Boruto, Gato wants the bridge builder out of his way, so he hired another Nukenin to assist me. I feel insulted that I have to work with a Kumo ninja, Nukenin or not."

"Ah, that's right, before you left Kiri you had multiple run-ins with Kumo ninja who were after your sword," Kakashi remembered, having heard about Zabuza's many battles with Kumo shinobi.

Hinata began to shiver when she heard the word's 'Kumo ninja' leave Zabuza's mouth. Shino noticed and placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, she relaxed and gave Shino a small smile as a form of thanks.

"Why does the name 'Boruto' sound familiar?" Kurenai asked.

"I don't know, but we don't have time to think about it right now," Kakashi told her.

"Sasuke, I want you to take care of the fake Hunter ninja, your speed should be able to match his. Sakura, stay with Tazuna," Kakashi ordered, to which his students nodded in confirmation.

"Hinata, Shino, I want you to attack that Kumo Nukenin while Kakashi and I take care of Zabuza," Kurenai said. Hinata panicked a little, but managed to scrounge up some courage and nod her head along with her teammates.

Sasuke and Haku vanished instantly, reappearing moments later clashing kunai against senbon. Kakashi and Kurenai then charged at Zabuza, ducking under his sword as he swung it in a wide arc. Ren drew a kunai and threw it at the remaining members of Team 8, forcing them to dodge as he went after them.

* * *

(Sasuke and Haku)

The Uchiha scion and the fake Hunter Ninja were vanishing in blurs and reappearing with sparks being created between them. Sasuke then jumped back and threw a few shuriken at Haku, who just deflected them with his senbon.

"I must admit, your speed is impressive," Haku said when they clashed once again. "But I'm two steps ahead of you."

"Two?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, first is the fact that we're surrounded by water, and the second fact is that I have one of your hands occupied," Haku explained, he then brought up his other hand and began to make a chain of one handed seals.

_'One handed seals?! But that's impossible!'_ Sasuke thought. He was broken out of his thoughts when Haku then slammed his foot on the ground, causing the water to rise up and surround them.

"Sensatsu Suisho!" Haku declared as the water turned into a thousand ice needles, all of them aimed at Sasuke. Before the needles hit, Haku jumped back and looked at ground zero, only to jump back as a shuriken flew at him. Haku looked up to see Sasuke coming down upon him, aiming with his kunai.

Haku dodged the blow, but couldn't avoid the kick that came afterwards, sending him skidding across the ground.

"It appears I'll have to use that after all," Haku murmured, he then made a unique hand seal and began to focus his chakra as it came out of him and blew around like an icy wind.

_'His chakra,'_ Sasuke thought, _'it's so cold.'_ He heard a cracking sound behind him and turned to see an ice mirror forming, he looked back at Haku, only to see that he was then surrounded by a dome of mirrors. Twelve of them were ground level, eight of them were above the first set and angled downwards, and the last one was above the dome, facing the ground. Haku then entered the mirror in front of him and his reflection was every mirror.

"Makyo Hyosho!" Haku declared. Moments later, Sasuke could be heard screaming in pain.

* * *

(Hinata, Shino, and Ren)

The trio of fighters were at a standstill. Hinata and Shino were surrounded by the Aburame's bugs as they acted as a shield since it was the only thing keeping the Nukenin from attacking them. However, they couldn't land a hit on the former Kumo ninja either since he had more experience and was able to avoid their attacks.

"These little pests are starting to annoy me," Ren growled as he avoided another small swarm of insects that Shino sent his way.

"Suiton: Teppoudama!" Ren opened his mouth and shot out several water bullets at the bug shield, drenching the insects and forcing them to retreat.

"Suiton: Water Whip!" Ren then swept his hand across one of the puddles made by one of Zabuza's clones and formed a whip in his hand.

"Hinata, it appears that our opponent is skilled in water techniques instead of the lightning techniques from Kumo," Shino said as he called upon more insects.

"Hai, we h-have to be more c-careful then since th-there's a lot of w-water around," Hinata told him. Shino nodded and sent another small swarm at the Nukenin, but Ren just swiped at them with his whip, dispersing them and knocking away the hidden shuriken within the swarm.

"You'll have to do better than that to beat me!" Ren taunted as he charged forward and swung his Water Whip at the Genin. Both of them dove to the side to avoid it, and Hinata raced forward to land a few hits on Ren's tenketsu on his right thigh.

Ren growled and backhanded Hinata, sending her skidding across the bridge before she lightly hit a crate. Hinata quickly got up, only to duck as Ren came flying at her with a kick. She rolled out of the way and threw several shuriken at Ren, but the Nukenin just twisted his body so the projectiles flew past him and over the bridge.

Shino then appeared next to Hinata while throwing a small swarm at Ren. The former Kumo ninja just dispersed the bugs with his whip and threw a kunai at the Genin, which was deflected by Shino's own kunai.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" Hinata threw an open palm at Ren as the force behind it sent a blast of air at her opponent. Ren received the full force of the attack and was sent backwards, slamming into the metal beam behind him.

"Heh...you're good for a couple of Genin," Ren said as he stood up and flexed his Water Whip. "But you won't be able to beat me. I think it's about time I took this seriously." He then threw his whip forward and it cracked against Shino's chest, sending him flying backwards.

"Shino-kun!" Hinata yelled as she watched her teammate get hit. A second later, the Water Whip was wrapped around her wrist and drag her forward till the Nukenin had grasped her by her wrists with his remaining hand.

"Now I recognize you! You're the Hyuga heiress that my brother tried to kidnap all those years ago!" Ren exclaimed. Hinata looked at him in shock and fear as he continued. "Yes, my brother Arashi Boruto attempted to kidnap you under the guise of being in Konoha to form a treaty. But your worthless clan killed him and sent us a fake body as an insult! But if I return to Kumo with you, I'll be hailed as a hero for accomplishing one of our long-time goals!"

Hinata began to struggle greatly in the Nukenin's grip before she decided to take a page out of Naruto's book: Do something completely unexpected. She reared back her leg and performed a skill only known to women. The Kick in the Balls Jutsu was deadly when used by a women that was either angry, insane, or scared, in this case, Hinata was of the latter category.

Ren dropped Hinata and gripped his groin in pain. Hinata began to run to where Shino was when she felt a sharp pain on her side, causing her to scream and drop down to the floor in pain. She looked back and saw Ren with his Water Whip glaring at her with pure rage. He had struck the young girl with a shuriken that ripped open her jacket and sliced her porcelain skin.

"You bitch! If I didn't need you alive I'd kill you right now!" Ren snarled as he brought up his whip and cracked it against Hinata's side, drawing out a scream of pain from her.

"But I don't think that Kumo would need you untouched," Ren said as an evil grin took root on his face. If Hinata was scared before, she was absolutely terrified right now. But before Ren could do anything, something hard impacted against his chest and sent him flying. Hinata then looked up to see the blood red eyes of her savior.

**"If you touch her...I'll kill you!"**

* * *

(Earlier-Tazuna's House)

Naruto groggily opened his eyes to see the brown roof of the house. He realized that he was in Tazuna's house in the upstairs room. He felt strangely disappointed that he wasn't in his bed with Hinata, much to his confusion.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a crash from downstairs and a loud barking. He quickly opened the window and held out his arm as Titan slithered out of his sleeve and landed on the ground before taking it's original form. Naruto then ran downstairs to see Tsunami in the clutches of two thugs with swords, and Kiba and Akamaru standing in front of Inari while holding a kunai.

"Great, another brat," the first thug groaned.

"Why are you complaining? It's just another person we can cut up," the other thug told him with a sadistic grin on his face.

"Naruto, you got anything that can beat these guys? Anything I can do would hurt Tsunami-san," Kiba asked.

Naruto nodded and said, "I've got something in mind that will work."

"You'll only do something if you don't care about this pretty lady right here. But I know that your mission is to defend the bridge builder's family so you won't," the first thug sneered.

The next thing the thugs knew, there was an incredible pain in the back of their heads knocking them out, releasing their grip on Tsunami in the process. Titan had snuck behind the two and clobbered their heads while they were distracted.

"You really are the most unpredictable ninja!" Kiba laughed

Naruto laughed along with him. When they calmed down Naruto asked him, "So where did everyone else go?"

"They went to the bridge, Kakashi-sensei thinks that today is when Zabuza attacks. He wanted me to tell you to head there when you woke up," Kiba said.

Naruto nodded and reabsorbed Titan before saying, "I'm heading there now, make sure that these two stay safe." Kiba nodded and Naruto ran out the door towards the bridge.

"How is he strong?" Inari asked.

Kiba turned to him and said, "It's because he fights to protect his friends. Something that Kaiza did when he stood up against Gato."

Inari looked at Kia in awe before he then ran for the door.

"Hey! Where ya going?!" Kiba yelled.

Inari turned back to him and shouted back, "I'm going to get everyone to stand up to Gato!" He then went and ran into town. Kiba smirked and began to set some traps incase some more thugs came for Tsunami.

* * *

(Unknown)

On the outskirts of Konoha, the western forest to be more precise, a group of ANBU were crowded around a metal hatch that was disguised as a tree stump. They were the ROOT Surveillance Squad assigned to infiltrate Danzo's facility.

"Boar, is it unlocked yet? All this waiting is troublesome," Deer asked.

"Almost," Boar replied. An audible click later, "Done. We're in."

"Alright everyone, let's proceed with caution," Hummingbird ordered. "Falcon, take point."

The bird masked ANBU nodded and entered the hatch first, the rest of the team following him. The team made their way into the facility where it was dimly lit and seemingly rundown.

"Do you detect anyone?" Tenzo asked Falcon.

Falcon shook his head. "All I can see are a few rats and small closets that have cleaning supplies in them."

"Let's keep moving, they should be deeper within the base," Hummingbird said. The team continued moving through the poorly maintained facility until they came upon a heavily locked door.

"Is this where we have to go?" Chameleon asked.

Tenzo nodded. "This is where Danzo kept most of his failed experiments. So this would be the best place to start looking."

"Alright, Boar, start unlocking this one, Tenzo, help him. The rest of us will provide cover incase any ROOT members come by," Hummingbird ordered. The team got into their position while the two ANBU started to unlock the door.

"Hey, Tenzo," Boar started as he worked on the sealing matrix that was keeping the lock shut, "is it true that some of Danzo's experiments would be worse than the ones that would be found in Orochimaru's bases?"

Tenzo stopped for a moment before saying, "When I was a member of ROOT, I always thought that those experiments were just like any other since I had no real common sense until I met Kakashi. But now that I'm able to determine right from wrong and understand what our morals are, I can say for certain that Danzo's experiments were worse than Orochimaru's at times."

All the team members heard this and thought about how much of a monster the councilman was.

"Hokage-sama has a suspicion...that Danzo turned Orochimaru into what he is today," Chameleon stated.

"What makes you think that?" Falcon asked.

Chameleon turned to him and said, "Hokage-sama thinks that Danzo prayed upon Orochimaru's desire to understand the secrets of the world in order to make him do most of the atrocious experiments for Danzo's benefit. That way, none of it could be tied back to him."

"What would make Hokage-sama think that?" Boar wondered as he removed the seal. Tenzo then stuck out his finger as a small piece of wood stuck out and he inserted it into the lock.

"It's because Dazno would often meet with Orochimaru a lot back when he was a Konoha ninja," Hummingbird explained.

"It's unlocked," Tenzo announced as he pushed the door open.

"Let's keep moving," Hummingbird ordered.

* * *

(Bridge)

Naruto arrived at the bridge to see a dome made of mirrors crafted out of ice. On each mirror was the reflection of the fake Hunter Ninja facing the center of the dome. On his knees looking like a pincushion was Sasuke, glaring at the reflections with eyes that looked like they were starting to turn red. For some reason, Naruto's stomach felt a little hot when he saw Sasuke's eyes. There was also an irritating feeling in his eyes that quickly went away after a moment.

He looked over and saw that Kakashi and Kurenai were engaged in a heated battle with Zabuza. The Jounin sensei's were using their unique abilities to try and outwit the Nukenin. Kakashi tried to use his Sharingan, but Zabuza would have his eyes closed or not look at the eye directly. Kurenai wasn't a Taijutsu or Ninjutsu user, so she would try to capture him in a Genjutsu, but it wasn't very easy.

The young Uzumaki looked around, but couldn't see anyone else, so he considered that Sakura and the rest of his team were protecting Tazuna somewhere within the mist. So he decided to go and help Sasuke since he KNEW that he didn't stand a chance against a ninja of Zabuza's caliber.

"Yo Sasuke, need any help?" Naruto asked as he ran towards the dome and stopped just before the edge.

Sasuke turned to him and noted how much clearer Naruto looked. He would have answered Naruto, but was too focused on trying to figure out when the next volley of needles was gonna come.

"Attack the dome from the outside, he can't hit you from there," Sasuke said as he ripped a senbon out of his arm, letting some feeling flow back into the limb.

"You can try," Haku told them, "but my mirrors can't be broken or melted. Just surrender and I will spare your lives."

"Let's hit one mirror with a Katon jutsu from both sides!" Naruto suggested as he made several hand seals. Sasuke, seeing what he was doing, began to make the same set of seals.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Both Gennin shouted as they breathed out fireballs that both hit a mirror. Haku was lucky that he was in a different mirror at the moment as the mirror the two ninja attacked began to melt, making it deform and lose its perfect shape before the fire stopped and the two Genin took deep breaths.

"Impressive, no one has ever melted my mirrors to this degree before. But I'm afraid that your skills won't be able to help you here," Haku said. He appeared behind Naruto and kicked him into the dome before he could react, and crashed into Sasuke, sending both boys onto the ground. Haku then stepped back into the mirror as his reflection was shown everywhere once again.

"So, teme, what can he do in this place?" Naruto asked as he pushed himself onto his feet.

"He can throw senbon from every mirror," Sasuke explained. Naruto was startled for a moment before he grinned and put his hands into a cross seal. Twenty Kage Bunshin appeared surrounding the two.

_'What is this? These clones are solid,'_ Sasuke thought as he looked at the twenty trenchcoat clad blonds that surrounded him.

"That won't help," Haku said. A second later all the clones exploded and both Sasuke and Naruto were being struck by countless senbon. Both of them screamed in pain as they tried to protect themselves, only to fail as most of their backs, arms, and legs were struck by the needles. Naruto was thankful that his threads were able to push out the needles, but it still hurt when they hit him. Sasuke was getting frustrated by how he was easily being hit while he couldn't hit the Hunter Ninja ever since he made the dome.

_'I've got to stay calm and focus. See everything about this jutsu, and act!'_ Sasuke thought as he watched a reflection of Haku. Haku raised his arms and Sasuke's eyes widened before he jumped away as senbon stabbed into the area he was previously in.

_'What?!' _Haku was very confused, as was Naruto. Sasuke couldn't dodge the senbon before. When Sasuke looked up, both of them could see his red eyes, his right eye had one tomoe while his left one had two.

_'The Sharingan? He activated it?'_ Naruto thought. With Sasuke's activated Kekkei Genkai, the battle would be easier. He also groaned as he realized that it would make him even more of an ass.

Naruto might as well have been a psychic. "With these eyes, I can never be defeated," Sasuke gloated. Naruto proceeded to slam his face into a nearby mirror and groan.

Haku stuck his head out above Naruto's and asked, "Is this his normal behavior?"

Naruto looked up and told him, "No, it's worse now. Me and my friends have been dreading this day because THIS would happen." Haku patted his head sympathetically and went back into the mirror before throwing a senbon at Sasuke, breaking him out of another fantasy of killing Itachi.

"Those eyes don't make you all powerful you know," Haku stated.

"Shut up! You're powerless against an Uchiha with their Sharingan!" Sasuke growled. Naruto went and slammed his head against the mirror once again, already feeling sorry for Kiba and Akamaru. He would have to send them a gift later.

Behind the mask, Haku rolled his eyes. He threw several more senbon in areas that left Sasuke with no room to dodge, cutting him in several places.

"If I was powerless, then how was I able to land several hits on you just now?" Haku taunted. Sasuke saw red and grabbed a kunai with an explosive tag on it and threw it at a random mirror. Before it could hit the mirror, Naruto raced forward, grabbed it out of the air, and threw it over the bridge hard where it exploded harmlessly over the water.

"You baka! Are you trying to kill us all" Naruto yelled.

"Out of my way! I'm the only one that can beat him!" Sasuke yelled back. Naruto growled, but before he could say anything, a senbon whizzed past their faces, forcing them apart.

Please surrender, I do not wish to hurt you," Haku told them. Sasuke saw this as an insult and performed another Fireball Jutsu, only for it to impact the mirrors and cause them to drip a little. Haku then threw a large volley of senbon that pierced Sasuke from all angles, causing him to scream out in pain.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried as he watched his fellow Genin become a pincushion. Once the vicious barrage was over, the Uchiha fell to the ground unconscious from the pain.

"You bastard! Jiongu: Spiderweb!" Naruto roared as he threw out his threads to try and capture Haku. The fake Hunter Ninja was surprised at both his ability, and the amount of threads that were coming out of his body. Haku jumped from mirror to mirror, slicing threads and trying to hit Naruto with the senbon. With every move that Naruto made, he unknowingly channeled chakra into his eyes, making everything become clearer and start to move in slow motion, allowing him to set up a trap..

Unfortunately, on Haku's latest jump, he tripped over a thread that Naruto cleverly placed, and missed the mirror, crashing into the ground where Naruto wrapped several threads around his legs and proceeded to slam him into the ground multiple times, leaving the fake Hunter Ninja dazed and weak. Naruto then brought his opponent closed and slammed a metal gauntlet into Haku's gut. With the injuries that he had received and the exhaustion of keeping the mirrors in existence finally catching up to him, Haku fell limp to the floor, finding no more energy to move. He could barely get any feeling into his limbs.

Naruto stalked over and reached for Haku's mask and pulled it off, revealing his face.

"Haku?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hello Naruto-san, I'm sorry you had to find out about this," Haku apologized.

"But...why? Why work for someone like Zabuza?" Naruto questioned. Haku then proceeded to explain how Kekkei Genkai were heavily despised in Kiri and how his father killed his mother and proceeded to kill him, only to be impaled when Haku activated his Kekkei Genkai by accident. Haku then told him about how he met Zabuza and swore to become his perfect tool.

"But now I am broken and have no use to Zabuza-sama," Haku said in a sad tone. "Please, kill me."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not going to kill you Haku, you're my friend."

"But...I have no value anymore," Haku protested.

"Bullshit!" Naruto exclaimed, sending the fallen ninja a small glare. "With your abilities, you're more than worthless! You're a powerful person with amazing abilities, so don't sell yourself short!"

Before Haku could respond, a scream pierced the air, a scream that Naruto recognized.

"HINATA!" Naruto cried as he ran off into the mist towards where the scream originated. Haku, feeling all of the energy leave his body, closed his eyes and embraced the blissful silence of unconsciousness.

Naruto ran deeper into the mist till he saw three figures, one taller than the other two. He recognized Hinata and Shino down on the floor, the latter looking like he was knocked out while Hinata was holding her side in pain. Ren was standing over her with a lecherous grin on his face, at least from Naruto's point of view.

The blond unknowingly called upon the Kyuubi's chakra, deepening his whisker marks, elongating his canines, making his hair get more wild, and turning his eyes into crimson orbs with red slits. He raced forward at unimaginable speeds and slammed his gauntlet into Ren's chest, sending him flying.

**"If you touch her...I'll kill you!"** Naruto snarled as he glared at Ren, unleashing a large amount of KI at the Kumo Nukenin.

On the other side of the bridge, the three Jounin were engaged in combat when the malevolent aura swept over them.

"This feeling...it's like that night!" Kakashi realized.

"Did the seal break?" Kurenai asked with worry. Zabuza was faring no better since this feeling reminded him of two people who could give off the same type of aura, only on a lower scale.

_'This is worse than either Yagura or Utakata! It HAS to be one higher than six!'_ Zabuza realized, a slight shiver crawling up his spine.

Seeing that the mist lightened slightly due to Zabuza's distraction, Kakashi zoomed his Sharingan onto the source of the KI. He was able to see the blurred image of Naruto standing over a wounded Hinata while facing off Ren, crimson red chakra running through his veins. He then looked over to the other side to see Sasuke and Haku unconscious. But what REALLY caught his attention was the large mass of small chakra that was on the unfinished side of the bridge.

"Called for some more reinforcements Zabuza?" Kakashi questioned, much to both of the other Jounin's confusion.

"What are you talking about? It's only me, Haku, and Ren," Zabuza told him.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Then explain the large group on the other side of the bridge."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow and glanced over to where Kakashi was mentioning. Since he created the mist around them, he was able to see through the technique if he wanted to, and he was able to see a large amount of thugs gathering on the other side.

"What the Hell's going on?" Zabuza questioned.

"Looks like Gato is planning to betray you," Kakashi stated. Zabuza narrowed his eyes and let out a string of curses that made Kurenai blush.

"I suggest we call a truce, but continue to fight in order to find out what's really happening," Kurenai suggested. The other two agreed and continued their fight, although not as intense as before.

"You little brat!" Ren snarled as he got up. "I'll make you beg for me to kill you once I'm done maiming you!"

Naruto said nothing as he crouched down and flexed his clawed gauntlets, a low growl coming from him as he glared at Ren. He had sent out a thread that began to stitch up Hinata's wound that Ren had given her. While the red chakra Naruto was emitting looked threatening, Hinata found it quite soothing as the thread stitched her up as it also had the red chakra running through it. It made Hinata feel warm and safe.

_'Please Naruto-kun, please don't get hurt,'_ Hinata thought as she watched Naruto with worry in her eyes.

Naruto growled and darted forward at speeds that surprised Ren. The Nukenin was caught off guard as Naruto slammed another fist into his chest. Ren was able to stay on his feet this time and ducked backwards as Naruto came sailing over him with the clawed gauntlet aiming to rip him apart. Ren raised a knee and struck Naruto in the gut, but recoiled at the red chakra burned him.

"What the Hell are you?!" Ren screamed as he created a Water Whip and tried to wrap it around Naruto's neck, only to watch as it fell apart and evaporated as soon as it touched his skin. He then narrowly dodged several threads that were aiming at his chest.

Naruto brought out Fox and Titan, bringing the odds into his favor in terms of numbers. Fox ran forward and slashed at Ren with a claw, forcing him to jump backwards, only to have to jump into the air to avoid Titan's heavy fist as it soared to his head.

_'What is this brat?! He's not human! Is he like that Cat bitch back in Kumo?'_ Ren thought as he tried to figure out what was with Naruto. The blond had jumped into the air and shot a swarm of threads at Ren, who fished out a kunai and proceeded to hack away at the swarming threads.

Unfortunately, Ren already had a few chakra points closed, courtesy of Hinata, so his stamina was at a low level, which resulted in him getting sloppy and make mistakes. One such mistake allowed a thread to pierce his left shoulder, lowering his guard and letting another thread pierce his right shoulder. With both arms hanging limply, Ren was helpless and at Naruto's nonexistent mercy.

"Stay away, stay away!" Ren screamed as he struggled to get free.

Naruto stalked forward along with Fox and Titan, the Jinchuriki's red eyes boring holes into his prisoner while Fox snapped his mask in an attempt to look like snarling. Titan just settled for slamming his fists together.

**"You won't hurt anyone ever again," **Naruto growled as several threads squirmed out of his back and reared back before shooting forward, digging into Ren's chest. Ren had no time to scream as the threads ripped out his heart, killing him instantly.

**"Wat**er," Naruto muttered as he pulled out a scroll and unraveled it. He pushed chakra into the kanji for water and unsealed a mask. This one had blue markings, a small opening for a mouth, and two eyestalks. He placed the mask onto the mass of threads that held Ren's heart and watched as it began to morph. He wasn't the only one as Hinata and a now awake Shino observed as the threads began to take shape.

It looked like a crab with a large shell, ten legs, and two large claws. The creature itself reached up to Naruto's waist in terms of height, but only because it's legs were crouched down. Naruto's new construct clicked it's claws and walked around for a few moments before crawling back over to Naruto.

The blonds eyes were glazed over. The reason for this? He was doing something that some people might think that was long overdue...

* * *

(Mindscape)

Naruto opened his eyes to see that he was in a dimly lit hallway that looked like a sewer. He was standing ankle deep in the water and decided to start walking down the sewer, wondering where he actually was.

Several minutes of walking later, Naruto could see that he was standing before a cage that had a small sealing tag on it.

**"So my jailor finally appears to talk to me,"** a deep voice stated as two red eyes with black slits opened and observed Naruto. **"I guess the third time really is the charm."**

"Judging from the fact that you called me your jailor, I can only guess that you're the Kyuubi, correct?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer. The shadows within the cage moved away to reveal a bright orange fox that towered over him. Rabbit like ears adorned his head and nine tails swished through the air behind him.

**"Interesting, I was expecting you to be either shaking like a leaf, or to be yelling at me,"** the Kyuubi mussed. **"But none the less, I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Pray tell, why aren't you angry with me?"**

"I want to be angry with you, honestly I really do," Naruto began. "But there's something in me that's telling me that it's not really your fault that you attacked Konoha."

The Kyuubi raised an eyebrow and said, **"I admit, that I attacked Konoha all those years ago. But the exact details of that night are blurry, however, I believe that with time, I'll be able to remember everything. However, I do remember feeling like my actions were being forced."**

"You're very different from how the stories portrayed you," Naruto noted.

**"Well no one ever wanted to get to know me, they just believed that I was a wild beast that did nothing but destroy," **Kyuubi explained. **"However, I did destroy villages for a good reason in the past."**

"How can destroying villages have a good reason?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi chuckled and explained, **"Simple, those villages were harboring a great amount of evil within them. If that evil were to be left alone, it would have brought catastrophic events in the future."**

"Well, I guess that's kind of a reason," Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head. "But I can't really complain for something that's already been done."

**"Now you really interest me," **The Kyuubi muttered as he laid down on his giant paws. **"Why don't you hate me? I made your life a living Hell."**

Naruto shook his head and told him, "It's not really your fault that the villagers can't tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll it's sealed in. I just have to prove to them that I'm not you. Last time I checked, I look nothing like your furry ass."

The Kyuubi's eye twitched as he remembered the same exact insult being given to him by a certain redhead with a fiery attitude.

_**'They're so similar, it's scary,'** _Kyuubi thought. **"Then you must be angry with me for attacking your village."**

Naruto gave him a look and said, "Didn't you say it wasn't your fault? That you felt like you were being controlled?" Seeing the Kyuubi nod his head with a confused expression, Naruto grinned and said, "Then there's no need for me to be angry with you."

**"You are VERY interesting, I've never seen anyone as forgiving as you since the days of the Rikudou Sennin," **Kyuubi said. **"I think you should go now, I can sense a large amount of people gathering on the bridge, and none of them seem to be on your side."**

"How can you tell? We've been in here for only a minute or two," Naruto asked.

**"Apparantly, that minute or two was long enough for someone to gather an army. From what I can tell, they're even aiming to betray those two that are still alive," **Kyuubi explained.

"Then I have to go and help everyone," Naruto said with determination. But before he left, he turned back to the Kyuubi and asked, "Hey, what did you mean by third time's the charm?"

The ancient Bijuu chuckled and told him, **"This is the third time I tried to talk to you. The first time was when you were a baby and had just gotten your Jiongu, the second was when you first killed. You ran right past the cage and retreated into your mind."**

* * *

(Back on the Bridge)

Naruto opened his eyes to see that the mist had cleared up a lot, allowing the entire bridge to be seen. Sakura was crying over Sasuke's prone body with Tazuna nearby, Haku was still unconscious from the strain of the battle. Shino was nearby Hinata, using what little medical knowledge he had to try and help her with her injuries. The Jounin and Zabuza were at a standoff as they faced what was on the other side of the bridge. Naruto turned to see that there was a small army of thugs, and standing in front of them, in all of his midget glory, was Gato.

"I'm very disapointed Zabuza, you're being beaten by a scarecrow, a woman, and a bunch of brats," Gato said with a smirk on his face.

"Gato, what's the meaning of this?" Zabuza asked as he looked at the mass of thugs.

Gato's smirk got bigger and he said, "You see, you Nukenin cost too much while these thugs will work for the minimum wage. So I'm going to kill you all and get some bounties if there are any. But I will spare the girls, I'm sure that there are some buyers in Kumo who would love to get their hands on that Hyuga girl."

Everyone heard a snarl and looked over to Naruto and saw him standing in front of Hinata protectively along with his hearts. Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw the constructs, not knwing what they were while Kurenai guessed that the new crab-like creature came from Zabuza's other associate, who was most likely dead.

"Look at this, a little brat thinks that he can be a hero," Gato laughed.

"Calm down Naruto," Kurenai ordered while she eyed the thugs in front of her.

"I've never seen anything like that before. What kind of jutsu is it?" Kakashi wondered as he watched Fox, Titan, and the newly created Crab stand by Naruto.

"If Naruto trusts you enough, he'll tell you. It's one of his most guarded secrets," Kurenai explained. Kakashi nodded and diverted his attention back to the thugs in front of him, but quickly turned back to Naruto once he noticed something.

"Kurenai, look at Naruto's eyes!" Kakashi told her. The other Jounin and Zabuza, who's curiosity got the better of him, turned to Naruto and looked at his eyes. Gone were the bright blue eyes that the blond was known for, in their place were red eyes with black pupils. But what was orbiting the pupils was what shocked everyone, two tomoe were surrounding his pupils.

Naruto had the Sharingan.

"But...how?!" Kakashi softly cried, very thankful that Sasuke was unconscious at the moment so he couldn't see Naruto. Sasuke would have had a cow, and that's an understatement.

_'What's up with my eyes? Everything's clearer and there's a blue fire in everyone's belly,'_ Naruto thought as he looked around.

**"You have the Sharingan kit,"** Kyuubi explained.

"W-what? What do you mean? And how are you talking to me?" Naruto questioned.

**"First off, think of what you want to say to me, we don't want people thinking that you're crazy," **Kyuubi told him. **"As for you having the Sharingan, I think it has something to do with that Uchiha's heart that you absorbed all those years ago. This battle probably helped you unlock it with all of the stress that your going through, especially when you were defending the Hyuga girl. As for me being able to talk to you, I'm able to do that now because we've created a mental link when you came into your mind to speak with me."**

_'I never thought that the Jiongu would be able to take in bloodlines,'_ Naruto thought.

**"It was probably because of my presence in your body," **Kyuubi said.

_'What makes you think that?'_ Naruto asked.

**"Because I'm able to speed up your healing and regeneration, my chakra probably put some changes in your Jiongu and body, allowing you to absorb that Sharingan. You could probably absorb other bloodlines as well,"** The fox explained.

_'That just makes me more awesome!'_ Naruto was giddy on the inside, but was still radiating an aura of anger on the outside.

"Naruto!" Hinata called, breaking him out of his trance.

"Huh?" he looked back to her, only to receive a hug from the indigo haired girl. She wrapped her arms around his neck and boldly gave him a kiss on the cheek, albeit, a brief one. But it made him blush at the contact.

"Please be careful," Hinata whispered as she loosened her grip and fell to the floor, not quite healed yet. But Naruto caught her before she hit the ground and handed her to Shino, who took her and lightly scolded her for not taking it easy.

Naruto turned back to the thugs to see that they were slowly advancing while Kakashi and the others were slowly backing up. Kakashi had an unconscious Sasuke and Sakura in his arms, he mostl likely had to knock out the banshee in order for her to let go of the 'last' Uchiha, while Zabuza had Haku over his shoulder.

**"Kit, I'm going to implant a jutsu into your mind, one that will take care of these weaklings,"** Kyuubi said. Naruto felt a rush of information and immediatly knew what Kyuubi was talking about, although he felt his head throbbing at the rush of info.

**"I can't do this too often since the mental strain of putting information directly into one's mind is painful to you, unless you were a Yamanaka. Be warned, the chakra required for this jutsu will either knock you out after it's done, or make you exhausted," **Kyuubi told him. Naruto nodded and walked forward along with Fox until they were standing in front of the Jounin.

"Naruto, what are you doing?! We have to fall back!" Kurenai shouted.

"Please, leave this to me," Naruto said as he started to make hand seals.

"Come on, let's just kill them and get our money!" the lead thug yelled. All of the others responded with a unified cry and charged.

_'Ne, Inu, Tora,'_ Naruto thought as he channeled chakra into Fox, who opened his mouth and a small fireball lit inside.

_'That jutsu...!'_ Kakashi thought as he recognized the way the chakra was being molded with his Sharingan.

"Katon: Zukokku!" Naruto shouted as the fireball in Fox's mouth shot forward and hit the ground. The second it hit the metallic surface of the bridge, the small fireball turned into a roaring inferno that raced towards the thugs and Gato and enveloped them in the flames. Once the fire cleared, only ashes remained as evidence that there was a small army there.

Zabuza's eyes widened as he saw the blond Genin perform a high B-Rank jutsu and not fall unconscious. However, Naruto did fall to his knees as sweat covered his body from the exertion of that technique. This was one of the few times that Naruto, the stamina freak, would become exhausted without it being due to a lack of sleep.

"He...actually pulled that jutsu off..." Kakashi muttered as both his students fell from his grip and fell to the floor face first.

"Ugh...Zabuza-sama..." Haku moaned as he tried to move.

"Take it easy Haku," Zabuza ordered as he laid the Hyoton user on the ground.

"I'm sorry...that I failed you," Haku said as he weakly looked up at the Nukenin.

"It's fine," Zabuza sighed, "you can't win everything. Just look at me, I lost in my fight against Kakashi last time."

Haku was stunned, he was sure that he was going to get some form of punishment for his failure. But this...this wasn't what he was expecting.

"Though, I'm not sure about what we should do now," Zabuza sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"How about you come to Konoha?" Naruto suggested, causing everyone who was conscious to look at him in surprise.

"Naruto, you can't just offer asylum to a Nukenin," Kurenai told him.

"I'm sure that Jiji would love to have someone as special as Haku in the village. He'd also like to have an expert swordsman like Zabuza who also has an awesome sword of his own," Naruto said.

"Brat, why would I even consider going to Konoha with you?" Zabuza asked.

"Aren't you tired of all the Hunter Ninjas chasing you everywhere you go?" Naruto asked.

"He does make a good point," Haku agreed.

Zabuza sighed. "Alright, I suppose that I am starting to get tired of all the running. I'm tired of living this kind of life. By the way, who's 'Jiji'?"

"That would be the Hokage," Kakashi informed him.

Zabuza and Haku's eyes widened at this. "You telling me this blond brat's the Hokage's grandson?!"

"Nope," Kurenai shook his head, "he's just his grandfather figure."

Zazbuza groaned and rubbed his temples. "I suggest we go now before I get an even bigger headache."

Kakashi nodded and picked up his students once more, Zabuza helped Haku to his feet as he was starting to feel them again. Naruto picked up Hinata, much to her embarrassment, and Shino was being assisted by Kurenai.

"I must admit, your partner is very well skilled in knowing where to aim with his senbon, he brought down Sasuke with a well placed strike," Kakashi said.

"It didn't help that he was too busy boasting about how I would never be able to hit him ever since he activated his eyes," Haku said.

Kakashi sighed and muttered, "So much for all those teamwork exercises."

"Yeah well, Haku was awesome with his ice mirrors. I barely knew what was happening!" Naruto praised.

"Naruto, I'm confused, why do you refer to Haku-san as a boy?" Shino asked.

"Because he told me that when we were in the forest, but I never knew that he was working with Zabuza, or that he was a guy," Naruto answered.

"But, my insects tell me that Haku is a female," Shino said, making the blond stop in his tracks, along with everyone else who thought that Haku was male.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled.

"Uh, surprise?" Haku weakly said.

* * *

(ROOT Base)

It had been a while since the team had passed the locked door and entered the lower chambers of the facility. They had not run into any ROOT agents, only seen labs that had either strange chemicals with animals in them, or dried blood on the floor.

"Tenzo, are you sure this is the right way?" Boar asked.

"I'm sure, we're almost at the holding cells, that's where Danzo would hold either the failures or people who were next on the experimentation list," Tenzo told him. Eventually, the team came upon another door, only this one wasn't locked and opened easily. If you count it falling to the floor right off the hinges 'opening it'.

"This just tells you how well they cared for this place," Chameleon remarked.

"Let's keep moving, they should be close by," Hummingbird ordered. The ANBU squad dashed into the facility and raced past cells that had their lights turned off, not allowing the ANBU to see who was inside.

"This should be it," Hummingbird said as he stopped in front of a door marked: Project Super Soldier. Underneath the label was 'Failure' written in red letters. Hummingbird pushed open the door to reveal a small lab with two figures tied to tables, one a woman, the other a young girl. Both of them were naked, barely awake, and half-dead.

Hummingbird and Deer dashed to the woman while Boar and Falcon went to the girl Hummingbird brought out a flask of water and pressed it to her mouth, helping her swallow it while Deer removed her bindings and covered her with a spare cloak. The same thing was done to the young girl.

"Commander, is she who I think she is?" Deer asked as he gazed at the comatose woman.

"Yes, she is," Hummingbird answered as he lifted the woman into his arms, seeing that her long hair had turned a dirty brown from dried blood and...other things that couldn't identified with a simple observation. He looked over and saw that Falcon had the little girl in his arms, she was crying, most likely from a nightmare by the way she was whimpering.

"Let's go, we need to get these two to Tsunade-sama immediately," Hummingbird ordered.

"Sir!" the ANBU team raced out of the facility, intent on getting back to Konoha as fast as possible. Unknown to them, a weak chakra pulse shot out of the woman and spread out through the forest as soon as she felt that she was going to be safe.

* * *

(Tazuna's House)

A tired Naruto was asleep on his bed as a slightly worried Hinata sat near him. It wasn't that she was worried if he was hurt, just worried about what he was going to think about what she had done before he did that powerful Katon jutsu. Would he think that she was being weird and not want to be her friend anymore?

Before she could think of any more depressing thoughts, she heard a moan coming from the bed. She looked and saw Naruto smile in his sleep and snuggle into the pillow even further, seeming like he was being comforted by something. Seeing that Naruto was happy made Hinata smile as she began to gently rub the stitch that was still in her side. It was barely noticeable, but was still there. It pulsed with a warming chakra that kept the Hyuga heiress feeling happy.

Inside the seal, the Kyuubi shot up with pure shock written on his face. Never in a million years would he have even imagined to feel that chakra again. One of his claws started to feel hot as a small feeling of guilt snaked its way into the fox's soul.

**"Overcoming the impossible must run through YOUR genes after all," **Kyuubi muttered as he laid back down on the water, a small, barely noticeable smile on his face.

* * *

**FINALLY FINISHED! This chapter took FOREVER to write. All the fights, the infiltration, and other things wore me down. I think I deserve a nice nap, don't you agree with me?**

**So Naruto has his third heart, AND the Sharingan. Didn't I tell you guys that I was planning a surprise? I'm sure that some of you had figured it out from Chapter 2, but if you didn't, don't feel bad.**

**I know that most of you are going to complain about Naruto not getting Haku's heart for the Hyoton, but HEAR ME OUT! I have a way for Naruto to get the advanced elements WITHOUT having to take their hearts. If you want to find out, you'll have to wait for the Chunin Exam Finals where I'll reveal that.**

**I'm sure that all of you have figured out the identity of at least one of the people being rescued from ROOT, that will be revealed next chapter where many tears will be shed and hearts melted.**

**One last thing to address, this is a good Kyuubi/Kurama story. So we're not going to have any fits of rage to be released from the seal, no evil temptation, none of that crap. He's still gonna act like a smug ass every now and then, but overall, Kurama's going to help Naruto earlier on instead of LATE into the story. This is a FANFICTION, so some facts from the anime/manga are going out the window. And don't yell at me for it, I've seen fanfictions where it happened, I'm not the only one who's done it.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	12. Chapter 12: Return

Chapter 12: Return

* * *

**I'm baaaaaack! Miss me? Why should I ask, of course you guys missed me!**

**So I've gotten a lot of positive reviews last chapter, from keeping Haku and Zabuza alive, Naruto getting the Sharingan, and from you people being psychic and realizing who was being rescued from Danzo's clutches, at least the woman, most of you guys were way off with who the girl was. I swear, some of you people are able to pick me apart like I'm a frog in the dissection lab.**

**Anyway, I know some of you, no that's wrong let me fix that. ALL of you want me to have Danzo killed right away, but I can't do that right now because I still need him to stay alive until Shippuden. I need to use him and his ROOT to develop the plot along the way. So please bear with his mummified ass for a long time. If you do I'll make his death Triple M Rated.**

**Time to answer a few reviews:**

**Ryuujin96: I know I'm making Hinata look like the damsel in distress, but it's not going to stay like that for to long. She'll get stronger by the Chunin Exams, but not strong enough to beat Neji yet. And Team 8 will face an interesting challenge in the Forest of Death.**

**thor94: It wasn't the Rikudou Sennin.**

**Black Shades of Red: You'll see the answer to that last question in the future. More specifically, the Forest of Death.**

**Gremlin Jack: Danzo kept them alive in case he could find some use for them later on when he had better scientists and the like.**

**YamiChaos27: Naruto's getting a Wind Heart. He needs a heart in his body at all times, so he can't send out his own heart due to that little fact. Hence, he needs another Wind Heart.**

**Many of you have said that I shouldn't make Naruto overpowered in this fiction, and I agree with you. However, he's going to be stronger than he was in the series, especially in Part 1. In almost all of his fights, he beats the bad guys at the last second after getting a beating. I can't remember a fight where he just overpowered the enemy that wasn't just a bandit. And he'll be even stronger after the time-skip, but he'll still have trouble with enemies like Orochimaru, Pain, and Obito.**

**On with the show!**

* * *

(Gates to Konoha)

"We're back!" Naruto cheered when he saw the giant gates standing proudly before him. It had taken a week for everyone to recover from the whole ordeal in Nami, and two days for them to get to Konoha since there were no civilians slowing them down.

"Shut up Naruto-baka!" Sakura screeched, causing everyone in a five-mile radius to go deaf for a few minutes.

Once her hearing came back, Kurenai stormed up to Sakura and leveled her with a harsh glare powered by a Genjutsu that made her eyes glow ominously. "Control your voice, you might have attracted some bandits of animals with your yelling," Kurenai ordered. Sakura nodded frantically as she tried to get away from the Genjutsu Mistress. Kiba and Akamaru cringed as a foul odor came from Sakura, and it wasn't the perfume she dunked herself in.

"Got to admit, the place looks more welcoming than Kiri," Zabuza said as he looked at the gates.

"Indeed," Haku nodded, "it also seems better without a small army standing guard."

Zabuza quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Doesn't that make it easier for people to get in then if there aren't any large number of forces to discourage them from attacking?"

"You forget, we have the Hyuga Clan," Kakashi told him. "Their eyes allow them to see any incoming army and warn us ahead of time." Zabuza just nodded and they continued walking.

Eventually, they came upon the gates and saw that the two gate guards, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane. Izumo was a young man who had a forehead protector styled like a bandana while part of his hair covered his right eye. Kotetsu was of the same age while he had spiky black hair and a bandage that went across his nose. Both of them wore standard Chunin uniforms and were lazing about at the gate.

"Teams 7 & 8 reporting from a joint mission in Nami, with us are some guests who are interested in joining Konoha," Kakashi said as he approached the two. The gate guards looked up to see Zabuza and Haku behind him.

"Z-Zabuza Momochi?!" Kotetsu stuttered in disbelief.

"Yeah, they have a proposition for Hokage-sama and want to join the village," Kakashi explained while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Izumo managed to get out of his stupor and check them into the village while his partner was still gapping like a fish. When the group walked away, Izumo smacked Kotetsu on the back of his head.

"Something about this has 'Naruto' written all over it," Izumo remarked.

"Only that kid could convince a Nukenin to join the village," Kotetsu laughed.

Once the group was closer to the village, Kakashi turned to address them. "Alright, we're going to the Hokage Tower to turn in our report and see about getting these two," he jerked a thumb at Zabuza and Haku, "to join Konoha. Kiba, you're excused since you need to take Akamaru to see a vet about that injury. Let's go."

"See you guys later," Kiba waved as he carried Akamaru to the Inuzuka Compound, Team 8 waved back while Sasuke just grunted and Sakura gushed over him. Kurenai was contemplating whether or not to place the girl in a Genjutsu just to get some peace and quiet.

The group had arrived at the Tower and entered it to see the Hokage's secretary swamped with paperwork, something very unusual since the Hokage was the one who was buried. Kakashi raised an eyebrow but approached the woman as she looked over a form.

"Teams 7 & 8 reporting from a mission in Nami no Kuni," Kakashi said. The woman just glanced at him and pressed a button on her intercom.

"Teams 7 & 8 are back from Nami no Kuni Hokage-sama," the woman said.

_"Send them in,"_ Hiruzen's voice replied. The group went inside and saw the Hokage looking over a small report with tired eyes.

"Kakashi, Kurenai, why do you have two others with you, one of them being a Nukenin?" Hiruzen asked, not even looking up at see them.

"Well, there's an excellent explanation for that Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, slightly sweating from the tone Hiruzen had, he sounded stressed.

Kakashi and Kurenai began to tell the Hokage about the mission to Nami, from Team 7 running into Zabuza, to the battle on the bridge. Of course, they withheld the information of Naruto using his Jiongu, getting the third heart, using the Kyuubi's chakra, and how he killed Gato and his thugs with that powerful Katon jutsu.

Hiruzen sighed and leaned back into his chair. "Naruto-kun, why can't you make life simple?"

Naruto just shrugged while wearing a large grin. "Not my style Jiji."

Hiruzen sighed and asked, "Well why should I allow a Nukenin and his partner a spot in out village?"

"Hokage-sama," Zabuza began as he stepped forward, "I can offer my abilities as a kenjutsu master to you village and train any ninja who is interested in becoming a kenjutsu user. Haku is the last known member of the Yuki clan and possesses the Hyoton ability."

Hiruzen gave Naruto a look and asked, "I stop taking you to poker night and you bring me two powerful assets to the village? You are the opposite of Tsunade."

Naruto just blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Kurenai and Haku giggled at his embarrassment and Sasuke glared at the praise he was getting.

"Now then, I expect a detailed report on my desk in three days from you two at 5:00," Hiruzen said. Kakashi and Kurenai nodded while the woman knew that the Hokage really meant for it to be handed in at 8:00 since Kakashi was three hours late for _everything_. Hiruzen then turned to the Nukenin and said, "In order for you to join, you'll need to go to T&I for standard procedure to see if you will be loyal to the village. After that you will be on a three month probation restricted from leaving the village unless emergency situations arise."

"As for you," Hiruzen then turned to Haku, "since you are an unknown ninja who isn't in the Bingo book you'll be tested in several fields to help us see where you stand. Is this acceptable for the both of you?"

"Yes Hokage-sama," Zabuza and Haku answered.

"Good, you're all dismissed, Kurenai I want you to take Zabuza to T&I, then take the rest of your team to the hospital for proper medical treatment. Naruto I want you to stay, there are some things we need to discuss," Hiruzen said. Everyone bowed and left, except for Naruto, and Kakashi.

"Is there something you need Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked.

"Just some questions that I REALLY need an answer to," Kakashi said. He then held his hand up behind Naruto and held up four fingers, shocking Hiruzen with what he was implying, to which he nodded.

"Naruto, could you step outside for a moment? I realized that there was something that I needed to speak to Kakashi about real quick," Hiruzen asked. Naruto nodded and went to stand outside the office. Once the door closed, the aged Hokage activated the privacy seals, preventing them from getting any eavesdroppers.

"How did you figure it out?" Hiruzen asked.

Kakashi sighed and began, "When I first saw him a long time ago, I thought that his appearance was a side affect of Minato-sensei performing the seal. But the more I thought about it, I began to realize something, Kushina was an Uzumaki, and Naruto acted just like her when she was a Genin, according to sensei's stories."

"I also remembered that Kushina, the previous holder of the Kyuubi, was pregnant and due to give birth on the day that the beast broke free. I don't really care as to why I wasn't told he was sensei's son, but I want to help him now that you've confirmed it."

Hiruzen sighed. "I never told you because you were a wreck, losing every member of your team sent you into a depression, it would have had disastrous effects if you were to take care of Naruto. I did what was the best decision at the time."

Kakashi closed his eye and huffed. "I guess that I can agree with that, I was kind of lost after sensei died. I just threw myself into my duties as an ANBU, so I wasn't in the best mindset to care for a child."

Hiruzen nodded and deactivated the privacy seals before going to the door and opened it, allowing Naruto back into the room.

"So what did you want to talk about Jiji?" Naruto asked.

"First, I want to know about what was left out of the mission report, I know that some things were left out of your initial report," Hiruzen said. Naruto sighed and took off his trenchcoat, revealing his new mask to the Hokage. "I assume that the new heart is from Ren Boruto?"

"He was going to hurt Hinata-chan, I wasn't going to let that happen," Naruto stated with cold eyes.

_'He really is sensei's son, he even has his glare whenever sensei was angry,'_ Kakashi thought.

"What else happened?" Hiruzen asked.

"When I saw that Hinata-chan was hurt, I...tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra," Naruto said hesitantly. "And when I took that bastards heart, I was pulled into the seal and met the Kyuubi."

"Did he do anything?" Hiruzen asked.

**"They immediately think that I'm a bad person,"** Kyuubi muttered.

Naruto shook his head. "He's not as bad as everyone says, he's just misunderstood."

"Naruto, don't you think that the Kyuubi might be deceiving you?" Kakashi asked.

"No, he said that he had no interest in attacking the village, he said that he remembered that he wasn't in control of himself when he attacked the village," Naruto explained.

"Thinking about what I have to tell you two later, that story might actually be true," Hiruzen said.

"Hokage-sama, are you sure it isn't a lie?" Kakashi asked.

"No, I'm starting to believe it," the Sandaime repeated. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, this might give you a heart attack," Naruto chuckled.

"Naruto," Hiruzen sighed, "I've lived a long time and seen many things, nothing you have can shock me at this point."

"You asked for it," Naruto grinned as he closed his eyes and channeled chakra into them. When he opened them, Hiruzen was staring at the two tomoe eyes of the Sharingan. The old man just blinked once before he fell back and fainted. Naruto just fell to the floor laughing while the Copy Ninja smirked under his mask.

Five minutes later, Hiruzen was revived and stared at Naruto as he looked at the Sandaime with his Sharingan.

"I had a suspicion that you would get the Sharingan after you absorbed Daichi Uchiha's heart," Hiruzen admitted.

"Kyuubi says that his chakra helped the Jiongu integrate the DNA of the Sharingan into my own genetic code," Naruto explained.

"What is the Jiongu?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto turned to look at him and said, "I need to trust you some more before I can tell you about it." Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"Now that that's done, I can get to what I wanted to tell you, Kakashi, you can stay since you'll like this news as well," Hiruzen told them.

"Naruto, I think that it's time I told you of the real way you got the Jiongu," Hiruzen suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I lied to you when you discovered that you had it, I didn't think that you were ready to know who hurt you and forced me to give use the Kinjutsu," Hiruzen explained. "It was right after the Kyuubi Attack, tensions were running high, and when I told the council that you were the Kyuubi's holder, many people called for your death. And when I was trying to control the chaos, a now deceased council member snuck up on the ANBU who was holding you and gave you the injury that forced me to give you the Jiongu."

Naruto was silent for a while, worrying Hiruzen and Kakashi. Then he looked up at the aged Hokage and said to him, "It's fine Jiji, it's all in the past. Look on the bright side, I've become even more awesome than I was before."

Hiruzen chuckled for a moment before he schooled his features. "Indeed, but now...I have some good news for you Naruto, you as well Kakashi."

"What kind of good news?" Naruto asked. Kakashi became interested as well, good news was always welcome.

"The ANBU came across a lab on the outskirts of the village, inside the lab we found evidence of horrendous experiments being conducted. However, it was who was inside the facility that concerns all of us," Hiruzen said.

"W-who was it?" Naruto asked, starting to get nervous.

Hiruzen took a deep breath and told him, "Inside, we found...your mother, Kushina Uzumaki, and a young girl who can be considered your sister."

Naruto's breath was caught in his throat and his eyes wide in shock. He couldn't believe it, his mother, someone who he wanted to at least know about, was alive! And with someone who was possibly his sister! He didn't know what to feel, should he be happy that his mother was alive? Worried that she wouldn't know about him? What is she...never wanted him?

Then there was his...sister, if she really was his sister. She probably never knew about him, what would she think of him? Would she accept him as a sibling, or think of him as a complete stranger?

Kakashi had...mixed emotions. He was shocked and overjoyed that the person who treated him like a son was still alive, and that she had a daughter, no doubt a result of her captivity. He was worried about her reaction to discovering what had happened to Naruto when she was missing. And then he was scared, no absolutely terrified, that he was going to receive the Uzumaki woman's wrath. What was even more scary to him was that he knew that Kushina's teammate, Hitomi Hyuga, taught her a personal move she created, the Eight Trigrams Castration Palm, one hit, and a man would never 'get up' again.

"B-but you said that you didn't know them," Naruto accused.

Hiruzen felt the guilt of lying to Naruto countless times fall onto his shoulders. He looked up and saw a younger Naruto with a sad look on his face.

"Naruto-kun...I am so sorry for lying to you, but it was for your own good at the time."

Naruto looked at him in confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your parents had many enemies outside of the village. If people discovered who your parents were, then other villages would create armies just to make sure that you don't become a threat to them," Hiruzen explained. Naruto thought about it for a while before nodding.

"I suppose that I can't learn the identity about my Tou-san yet?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen shook his head. "I'm afraid not Naruto-kun. I want you to be able to defend yourself against his enemies before you are told." Naruto just sighed and looked at the floor.

"C-can I go see them?" Naruto asked as he lightly shook in his seat.

"Of course, but they haven't woken up since we found them," Hiruzen explained. Naruto nodded and the Hokage then lead both males to the hospital.

* * *

(Konoha Hospital)

Kurenai had just dropped off Zabuza at T&I, Haku deciding to wait for her long-time partner/caretaker in their waiting room. She was now taking Shino and Hinata to the hospital to get them checked out.

"Hello Kurenai!" Shizune called out as she put down a clipboard on the counter and walked over to the trio.

"Hello Shizune!" Kurenai greeted.

"So how was your mission to Nami?," Shizune asked.

Kurenai shrugged. "Just a run-in with the Kirigakure no Kijin, seeing the country under the control of a greedy pig, and said Nukenin joining Konoha with his partner, the usual," Kurenai told her with a joking tone.

Shizune dropped her jaw when Kurenai finished. Sure some C-Rank missions might cause the team to run into bandits, but not Nukenin! Both teams should be paid for an A-Rank mission!

"Careful Shizune-sama, y-you might catch a f-fly," Hinata giggled. Shizune quickly closed her jaw with an audible snap.

"Hinata, you just said a sentance while barely stuttering!" Kurenai exclaimed.

"I did?" Hinata asked, to which everyone nodded.

"So what did you guys need?" Shizune asked.

"We need to get these two some checkups, especially Hinata since Naruto had to stitch up a wound she received," Kurenai explained.

Shizune turned to the young girl and said, "I see, we'll have to go see Tsunade-sama then, she has had more time examining Naruto's threads than me. Come on, I'll take you to her."

The group of four then made their way up to the third floor of the hospital in the western wing. Shizune stopped in front of a door and it opened to reveal a slightly tired Tsunade. The small bags under her eyes made her seem like a certain psychotic red-head.

"Yes Shizune? What is it?" Tsunade asked with a small amount of annoyance.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto stitched up Hinata with his threads, and I thought that you would be better examining them since I'm just barely understanding it myself," Shizune explained.

"Alright," Tsunade sighed, stepping out of the room and leading them to a vacant hospital room. She then turned to Hinata and said, "Show me where Naruto stitched you."

Hinata nodded and took off her coat and threw it on the chair, then she lifted up the left side of her shirt, revealing the crimson thread that held together her wound. Tsunade made several hand seals and coated her hands in green chakra before placing them near the wound.

"Shizune, go and get me Hinata's medical records," Tsunade ordered. Shizune nodded and left the room.

"Is something wrong T-Tsunde-sama?" Hinata asked, starting to worry.

"No, nothing's wrong, I just want to compare something," Tsunade explained. Shizune came back with a folder moments later and handed it to the female Sannin. Tsunade took it and began to flip through the pages before stopping and reading it.

"Well this is something," Tsunade remarked.

"What is it?" Kurenai asked.

Tsunade raised her head, which bore a smirk, and told her, "It appears that Naruto's little medical job affected your chakra."

"What do y-you mean?" Hinata asked.

"Originally, your chakra would emit itself as soft and shaky, but now your chakra seems to be...firmer than before, and more stable. Tell me, did Naruto look unusual when he healed you?" Tsunade asked.

"Y-yes, he seemed very a-angry and was giving off a red a-aura," Hinata told her. "I think his e-eyes were red too."

"I thought so," Tsunade sighed. "Well, all I can say is that now your jutsu wil be more powerful since your chakra is stronger. It also looks like it's doing wonders for your personality as well, you very different from the shy little girl Hitomi-chan would fuss over when it came to you having a temperature off by one degree."

While Hinata blushed heavily and began to sputter some nonsense, Tsunade walked over to Shino and asked, "So what's your problem?"

"I only have some bruising from our battle, and I believe that I had strained a muscle on my left leg," Shino explained. Tsunade then performed the same diagnostic jutsu she used on Hinata and checked the Aburame's leg.

"It's nothing that's to concerning, just make sure that you don't push yourself when training for a few days so your leg can get better," Tsunade ordered. Shino nodded in agreement.

"Tsunade, are you in here?" the door opened to reveal the Hokage, Naruto, and Kakashi. As soon as Tsunade saw Naruto, her mood seemed to change.

"I guess you told them already?" Tsunade asked.

Hiruzen nodded and asked, "Can you come with us when you're done?"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, but there's something I need to speak with you about, in private." Hiruzen nodded and stepped into the room while the rest of Team 8 stood outside with Naruto and Kakashi.

"What's w-wrong Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked when she saw his somber face.

"Eh? Oh it's nothing Hinata-chan," Naruto reassured her. Hinata frowned, she could see that something was bothering her secret love.

"Naruto-kun, I k-know that something's wrong. You've n-never been able to h-hide a lot of things f-from me," Hinata said.

Naruto chuckled and said, "You're right Hinata-chan, I've always been a terrible liar when you were around." He then turned to Kakashi and asked, "Do you think I can tell them?"

Kakashi closed his eye in thought for a moment before saying, "As long as they don't tell anyone else, I guess it's fine."

Naruto nodded and said to his team, "When we were in Nami, Jiji's ANBU found a lab where they found...my mother and sister."

"That's great Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed. But when she saw that his mood still didn't change, she asked, "Why a-aren't you happy?"

"It's just..." Naruto began, "what if they don't want me? What if I'm just a total stranger to them?"

"Naruto," Hinata started, "I'm s-sure that your m-mother still wants you. And if not, y-you know that my f-family accepts you."

"Thanks Hinata-chan, you always know how to cheer me up," Naruto said as he began to smile.

"What is your mothers name?" Shino asked.

"Uh, I think it was Kushina," Naruto answered.

"Kushina-sensei!?" Kurenai exclaimed.

""You knew her?" Naruto asked.

Kurenai nodded and said, "She was my sensei when I was a Genin."

"Small world." Naruto remarked, to which everyone nodded. Tsunade and Hiruzen exited the room and approached the group.

"I assume that you told the rest of your team?" Hiruzen asked with an amused smirk. Naruto just chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"As long as they could keep it a secret, I said it was okay," Kakashi said. Hiruzen nodded in agreement.

"So do you gaki's want to come and see if we can wake up Kushina?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go back to the compound so my hive can reproduce in a controlled environment, I lost a lot of insects during the battle with Ren as he drowned many of them," Shino apologized.

"It's fine, maybe you'll see her another day," Naruto said. Shino nodded and left the hallway, heading for the exit and to the Aburame Compound.

Naruto then turned to Tsunade. "So...where are they?" Tsunade gestured for everyone to follow her. She lead everyone to a remote section of the hospital where there were no other patients in the area. Tsunade then placed her hand on a door and channeled her chakra inside, unlocking the door before she opened it for everyone to enter.

Inside on the hospital beds were the two women who were rescued from ROOT, both were sleeping with the appearance of it being peaceful. The older one had fair skin, a feminine build, but appeared malnourished, but what really caught everyone's eyes was the red hair that fell down the head of the bed like a waterfall.

The girl looked like the woman, but seemed to resemble Naruto on some way. She appeared to be eight years old, and was rather short, not even needing half of the bed. She also had red hair that fell down to her shoulders, but appeared to be spiked a little at the top. But what caught Naruto's eye was the six whisker marks on her cheeks, three on each side, much like his own.

"The woman is Kushina, all of her DNA tests were a match with her hospital files, and the girl is her daughter, but we don't know her name," Tsunade told everyone.

Naruto just walked over to his mothers bed and stood beside it, watching as she breathed. Naruto had a hard time seeing that this was his mother, but was able to see the tiny details that made him accept it.

**"Oi, kit,"** Kyuubi called out.

_'Yeah? What is it?'_ Naruto replied.

**"I think I have a way for you to wake her up," **the elder Bijuu stated, making Naruto's eyes widen.

_'How?! Tell me!'_ Naruto practically demanded.

Kyuubi ignored his hosts little demand, seeing that he was a little desperate, and explained, **"Just send out a thread to her and I'll channel the healing properties of my chakra into her, effectively waking her up."**

Naruto said nothing and held out his hand as a thread snaked its way out and connected to Kushina's shoulder. Red chakra then began to travel down the thread and towards the comatose woman, but before it could make contact with her skin, Hiruzen grabbed the thread and pulled it away.

"What were you doing?" Hiruzen asked with a stern look.

"I figured that if I used my...special chakra, then it would wake her up. After all, Hinata-chan told me that the chakra had helped her heal when I stitched her up," Naruto explained.

Hiruzen sighed. "Did you forget that there's someone in the room who doesn't know about your other condition?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked over to Hinata, only to see her smile sadly at him.

"If i-it's about the Kyuubi, t-then I already know," Hinata told them. Everyone's eyes widened at the information.

"H-how did you know?" Kurenai asked, shocked that her student knew.

"It was during the final y-year of the Academy," Hinata began, "one of the Hyuga e-elders told me about the Kyuubi in h-hopes that I would stay away f-from you and 'keep the clan p-pure'."

"Well well, looks like I can actually help Hiashi with his elder problem," Hiruzen with a small hint of sadism in his voice. Kakashi could faintly hear the aged leader mutter, "There hasn't been a good execution in a while." This made Kakashi inch away from the Hokage.

"I-I'm just s-sorry I wasn't a better f-friend to y-you," Hinata whispered, dropping her head. She closed her eyes in sadness, only for them to shoot open when two arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a hug.

"It doesn't matter, you stayed my friend even though you knew what was wrong with me, thank you so much Hinata-chan," Naruto said. Hinata just smiled and returned the embrace as a few tears fell from her eyes.

Much to Hinata's displeasure, Naruto ended the hug a moment later and went back to his mother, sticking out another thread and channeling the Kyuubi's cakra through it. Once the chakra made contact with Kushina, her skin seemed to gain some color to it and her breathing became deeper.

Kushina then let out a soft groan and she weakly opened her eyes to see a group of people surrounding her. She turned her head to the left to see a mop of yellow hair in front of her. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak croak.

Tsunade moved forward and took a glass of water to Kushina's mouth and tipped the glass of refreshing liquid so that she was able to drink it. Kushina greedily drank the water and let out a soft sigh and turned to face Naruto and squinted her eyes. At first, she had mistaken the blond for Minato, but realized that he was to short to be her beloved, that,and she only knew two people with whisker marks on their cheeks, considering that she gave birth to them.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Kushina managed to whisper with a hoarse throat.

Seeing that she recognized him, despite not having met since his birth, tears began to gather at the corner of his eyes. He slowly nodded and Kushina's eyes widened before she began to cry.

"Naruto-kun...my sochi..." Kushina whispered. Naruto was openly crying now and moved to hug her. Kushina weakly raised her arms and wrapped her son in a motherly hug. Naruto practically fell to pieces after that, one of the many things he wished for, was to know the love of a mother. And he could feel the affection that his mother had for him.

"K-Kaa-chan," Naruto sobbed, both mother and son were crying from being reunited after so many years of separation.

"Kakashi, are you crying?" Kurenai asked with an incredulous expression.

"Of course not," the Copy Cat smoothly lied, "the room is a little dusty and something got caught in my eye." Hiruzen just smirked, knowing that Kakashi was tearing up from the touching moment, as was Hinata, though her tears went down her face freely.

"Let me get a good look at you," Kushina said as she pushed Naruto back and held him by his shoulders. She looked at her son, noting the unique attire he had and the two sealing scrolls at his waist that held his gauntlets.

"You look so handsome, I bet you have to beat the girls off with a stick!" Kushina gushed. Hinata blushed, agreeing that Naruto was handsome, and everyone except the Uzumaki's chuckled.

Kushina then looked past Naruto and shouted in surprise, "Tsunade-sensei! Kurenai-chan! Kakashi! Hokage-jiji!"

"Hello Kushina, how are you feeling?" Tsunade asked.

"Tired, and I can't move my legs," the redhead answered. Tsunade performed her diagnostic jutsu on Kushina and moved her hands over her covered legs.

"Your muscles are very weak, it'll take a while till you're able to move around again, even then you'll need assistance for some time," Tsunade explained.

"Please, with my Uzumaki genes, I'll be able to walk in two weeks at the least," Kushina boasted.

"Uzumaki...genes?" Naruto questioned.

The elder Uzumaki gave Naruto a curious look, she then looked at Hiruzen and saw him shift nervously before it finally clicked.

"Why doesn't my sochi know about our clan?" Kushina questioned.

"Clan?!" Naruto shouted, eyes wide. Hinata looked at Naruto and Kushina in shock since she never heard of the Uzumaki Clan.

"Hiruzen." The aged Hokage froze when he heard that tone. He turned around slowly and began to sweat when he saw Kushina giving him a blank look while an image of the Shinigami appeared behind her. The strange thing was that he was the only one who saw it.

"K-Kushina...I can e-explain," Hiruzen pleaded. When Kushina didn't make any move, he continued. "It was the council, they deemed that since the Uzumaki's were nearly extinct it was all useless information. It wouldn't have been passed if the Uchiha didn't agree to it."

"Get me Mikoto then, I'm going to have her arrange a meeting with her idiot of a husband," Kushina demanded.

"That's...gonna be a problem," Tsunade said.

"Why?" Kushina asked.

"The U-Uchiha Clan has been reduced t-to one member," Hinata said.

Kushina just sat there in shock. She slowly laid back down and brought a hand back to her head. "Please tell me that Hitomi is still alive," she pleaded. She then let out a sigh of relief when Tsunade and Hinata nodded.

"Naruto-kun, please help me up," Kushina asked. Naruto nodded and moved closer to his mother as she wrapped her arms around his neck and helped him pull her up. Right before she let go she felt a bump on Naruto's back, she would have ignored it if it didn't seem big.

"Naruto-kun, what's on your back?" Kushina questioned. Hiruzen panicked, THIS was the part of meeting that he was dreading. He would have made an escape, but Tsunade was at the door, having read his mind.

Naruto nervously undid the belt on his trenchcoat and shrugged it off, and turned around. Kushina gasped when she saw the three masks stitched to his back, she was even more shocked when she saw all of the stitching that went across his back, and around his arms.

"What...happened to you?" Kushina asked, starting to tear up.

"This is the result of a kinjutsu that was used to save my life," Naruto told her.

* * *

(Hyuga Compound)

Hiashi was training Hanabi in the family dojo, working on her stances. Hitomi was sitting nearby with a few cups of tea waiting for them.

"Good, your stance is perfect, all we need to do now is work on your speed," Hiashi praised. Hanabi grinned and dropped out of her stance.

Before Hiashi could say anything, a massive amount of KI flodded the village, making the aura of the Kyuubi feel miniscule. It also didn't help that Hiashi recognized that aura instantly.

"Is that Kushi-chan?" Hitomi wondered in disbelief. When she looked at Hiashi, she saw that he wasn't there. She looked around and saw him in the corner of the room, building a small fort out of anything that wasn't bolted to the floor or walls.

"...What are you doing?" Hitomi asked.

"Protecting us!" Hiashi shouted as he grabbed Hanabi and dived behind the 'fort'. "I recognize that KI anywhere. The Red Death had returned!"

* * *

(Hospital Room)

Naruto and Hinata were close to fainting, Kurenai had fallen to her knees, and Kakashi was holding onto the door handle for support. Only Tsunade and Hiruzen were able to remain standing. Inside the seal, Kyuubi slightly shivered, remembering how angry Kushina could get.

Kushina was radiating a menacing aura that made the entire village stop in its tracks. Her face was shadowed, eyes became glowing, white circles, and her hair rose up and split into nine 'tails' as they waved around in the air.

"K-Kushina-sensei...please calm down," Kurenai managed to get out. Kushina lowered the KI, but was still leveling a glare at Hiruzen. Eventually that glare lowered until Kushina was sobbing into her hands.

"I-I'm so sorry Sochi," Kushina sobbed, "if-if Minato didn't seal K-Kyuubi into you, t-then you w-wouldn't..." She couldn't finish due to the sobs that wracked her body. Naruto got up and went to hug her as she clung to Naruto while crying. Naruto held his mother until she stopped crying.

"It's alright Kaa-chan, it hasn't been so bad," Naruto reassured her. "In fact, I was able to become strong because of this. It doesn't bother me at all."

"You'll have to tell me all about it later," Kushina said.

"Kushina," Hiruzen began, "what's the last thing you remember?"

Kushina closed her eyes in thought and told him, "I remember telling you Naruto-kun's name and I blacked out afterwards. When I woke up, I was strapped to a table and had tubes running through my body, and the hole in my stomach was all healed up. A lot of scientists were around me performing experiments, and I think they injected me with some kind of drugs. A few years later, they put something in me and I became pregnant...with..."

"NATSUMI!" Kushina screamed, shooting up and looking around. She visibly relaxed when she saw the little girl on the bed across the room. **(1)**

"Thank Kami, oh thank Kami," she whispered, sinking back into her bed.

"Why was there a hole in your stomach?" Naruto asked, already dreading the answer.

Kushina looked at him and said, "That was where the Kyuubi pierced me when I was protecting you."

_'YOU DID WHAT?!'_ Naruto shouted at the massive beast.

**"I wasn't in control!" **Kyuubi shouted, making Naruto calm down, a little.

"Sensei!" Tsunade yelled. "You and me are going to dig up Kushina's grave, because I KNOW you buried a body when she died."

"That's what confuses me. What did we bury?" Hiruzen asked.

"Does it matter? I have my Kaa-chan and my imouto with me now," Naruto declared. "Do you know when she'll wake up?"

"Sometime this week, she's been recovering nicely," Tsunade explained.

"By the way," Kushina interjected, "who are you?" She pointed a finger at Hinata, who blushed under the attention.

"I'm H-Hinata Hyuga, you said that y-you knew my mother," Hinata said.

"I should have recognized you, you have the same stutter that Hitomi-chan had when we were Genin! And the same blush too!" Kushina said.

"She's on my team along with Shino Aburame! And Kurenai is our sensei!" Naruto told her.

Kushina's eyes widened. "Isn't this wonderful Kurenai-chan, now you can give them the training regimen I gave you Asuma and Hayate!" she said in pure happiness. Kurenai gulped, remembering the tor-uh, training, that she and her team had to go through. Most people would choose Anko's type of tor-, training over Kushina's. However, that list doesn't include a man who wears green spandex.

"So who was this 'Minato' you were talking about before?" Naruto asked. Kushina sent him a questioning look before she saw Hiruzen holding up a sign that said, 'He's not ready to know yet! I want to wait till he's a Chunin!' and she subtly nodded in understanding.

"Minato was the name of the Yondaime, I knew him from the Academy," Kushina explained.

"Sugoi! My Kaa-chan was friends with my idol Hinata-chan!" Naruto gushed.

"We should go and start investigating the coffin," Hiruzen said, Tsunade nodded and said goodbye to everyone before she left with her sensei.

"I should probably go and see my team, no doubt the two brats are complaining that I'm not there yet," Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"Oh? Who's on your team Kakashi?" Kushina asked.

"Tsume-sama's son Kiba and his dog Akamaru, Sakura Haruno, daughter of councilwoman Mebuki, and Sasuke Uchiha, son of your deceased friend Mikoto," Kakashi told her.

"So who is the other brat, I already know that the Haruno girl is one of them due to how her mother was," Kushina asked.

"Sasuke-teme is," Naruto answered.

"Impossible! Mikoto's son would never act like a brat! Itachi was so well mannered it made him look like a gentleman!" Kushina exclaimed.

"It doesn't help that practically all of the village treats him like he's Kami, not to mention he's always saying that 'only and Uchiha can defeat an Uchiha' every time someone fights him," Kurenai snorted.

Kushina sighed and muttered something about 'catching the Uchiha superiority virus'.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Kakashi said as he whipped out his little orange bookand poofed away.

"Me too Kushina-sensei, I have to go and write up a mission report," Kurenai told her as she walked out of the door, leaving Kushina with Naruto and Hinata.

"I'd like to thank you Hinata-san, for being a good friend for my Sochi," Kushina said as she bowed her head.

"P-please, call me 'H-Hinata-chan', there's no need to b-be so formal," Hinata told her.

"Alright, now I want you two to tell me about your latest mission, but before that, there's something serious I have to ask you, Hinata," Kushina then turned serious and gave the young Hyuga a long hard stare.

"What is it?" Hinata asked, slightly nervous.

Kushina stared at her intently and asked, "How many bowls of ramen can you eat?"

Naruto face-faulted and Hinata blushed a little before answering, "34."

"And what's your record Naruto-kun?" Kushina asked.

"28," Naruto told her.

Kushina grinned and said, "She is perfect girlfriend material!"

"Kaa-chan!" Naruto shouted, blushing furiously while Hinata fainted. Kushina just laughed at their reactions, clearly amused.

* * *

**Finally done! I didn't think I was ever going to finish this chapter.**

**So I've finally revealed the mystery duo to you people, hope you like the little surprise. I think that only a small handful of you got BOTH right. Most of you only guessed that Kushina was rescued.**

**Anyway, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to post this week. When I get back I'll only have a little time to write because high school will be starting soon. I PROMISE that I'll work as fast as I can whenever I have free time.**

**Many of you have asked me what I'm going to do about having Naruto get stuff like Mokuton and Yonton. You will see how I'm going to do it in the Chunin Exam Finals where he'll reveal his power to everyone.**

**(1)-Natsumi means "Summer Beauty"**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	13. Chapter 13: Road to the Chunin Exams

Chapter 13: Road to the Chunin Exams

* * *

**Welcome everyone to another amazing chapter written by the handsome Dark Dragon Emperor!**

**So a lot of you guys liked that Kushina and her daughter were alive, if your reviews were anything to go by. Though some of you had decided to send messages to me saying that I was...ruining the storyline. To those people I say this:**

**This is MY story where I decide what to do and who to keep alive. People like you don't matter to me, so if you don't like what I'm doing, leave.**

**Now that that's done, let's move on to another matter. Many of you are questioning who the father was for Natsumi. I say this, there was no rape involved while Kushina was kept in ROOT, and it DEFINITELY wasn't Danzo. If you can't remember, all of the ROOT members were forced to abandon their feelings and the like, so they have no drive to have sex unless it was a mission that they had to do. The father's identity will be revealed this chapter, and I know you guys are going to be relieved.**

**Now then, on with the show!**

* * *

(Training Ground 8)

Naruto was sitting in a tree while he waited for the rest of his team to show up. It had been a month since he was reunited with his mother and sister and couldn't be happier, not even the special Sharingan training with Kakashi was that exciting. What was even better was the fact that Tsunade was right and that Natsumi woke up the same week that Kushina did. However, the meeting didn't go as he thought it would...

* * *

(Flashback-Konoha hospital)

Naruto was visiting his mother again. She was telling him about her being the previous Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, much to his shock.

_'Why didn't you tell me?'_ Naruto asked the ancient beast inside of him.

**"I never DID pay attention to what you looked like when you were born, so I never knew,"** Kyuubi explained.

"Hey, did the old fuzzball ever give you the Summoning Contracts?" Kushina asked.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion and asked, "What contracts?"

"Hey Fuzz Butt!" Kushina yelled. "Hurry up and offer my Sochi the Summoning Contracts already!"

**"Disrespectful woman!"** Naruto heard the Kyuubi roar, **"Get in here kit so she can stop yelling!"**

The next thing Naruto knew, he was standing in the ankle deep water of his mindscape, staring up at the towering figure of the Kyuubi. In the Bijuu's paw were two large scrolls. The first one looked like any other scroll, but the other one was made out of a golden paper of some sort, and adorned with numerous crystals that all shone in different colors.

"I though that I was only getting one contract?" Naruto wondered.

**"You are, this other one is just something that I want to see. I'll explain more of it if you can open it all the way,"** Kyuubi explained. **"Now take the first one and sign it, it's the Kitsune Summoning Contract."**

Naruto eagerly grabbed the normal contract from the Kyuubi's paw and opened it, seeing that not a lot of people signed it, only a few names were there. Naruto bit his thumb and wrote his name on the contract before pressing his handprint underneath his name.

**"Congratulations, you are now an official Kitsune Summoner. I'm sure that my second family will be very happy to help you,"** Kyuubi said.** "Just ask Kushina to help you with the Kuchiyose no Jutsu."**

""You're the leader of these summons?" Naruto asked.

**"Yes I am,"** Kyuubi confirmed. **"All of the Bijuu have a Summoning Clan of their own and are the Boss Summons of them. However, some Summons broke away from the original families. The who split apart are the Cats, Turtles, Monkeys, and Slugs."**

"So what's the other one?" Naruto asked, looking at the other scroll.

**"This is a legendary Summoning Contract," **Kyuubi explained. **"Long ago when the Rikudou Sennin created the me and the rest of the Bijuu, he gave each of us a copy of his personal Summoning Contract. He wanted us to find the one who would be, and I quote, "The one who will succeed where I failed". This scroll is designed to only open for that specific person." (1)**

"And you think I might be this person?" Naruto asked.

**"I have...a feeling,"** Kyuubi said. **"It almost opened for your mother, so I want to see if you might have a better chance."**

Naruto nodded and took the scroll from the Kyuubi and placed it on the ground, where the water instantly moved away, like there was a barrier that surrounded Naruto and the scroll. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on the scroll before popping off the lock. He then took hold of the loose part of the scroll and pulled.

The scroll opened and spread out along the ground as the water moved away. The Kyuubi's eyes widened as the golden paper spread out and revealed the ancient writing on the parchment. Naruto couldn't understand anything on the paper except for one name:

Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

**"You...you opened it..."** Kyuubi gasped. He NEVER would have expected his newest Jinchuriki to be the one that his father would have been talking about.

"So...do I sign it now?" Naruto asked, getting over the shock that he was able to open it. However before he could move his hand to bite his thumb once again, Kyuubi swept up the contract with one of his tails.

**"Hell no!"** Kyuubi protested. **"Do you have any idea how much chakra is needed to summon one of these creatures? You would be completely drained, even if I was giving you a small boost!"**

Naruto's jaw dropped and he stared at the Summoning Scroll like it was a live explosive tag.

"Then when can I sign it?" Naruto asked, very eager to see the creatures that were linked to the contract.

Kyuubi closed his eyes for a moment, examining Naruto's chakra levels throughly. **"Hmm...I'll allow you to sign it in a month's time, your chakra reserves should be large enough by then so you won't faint instantly."**

"Say, wouldn't you be able to give me some of your chakra when I start to run out?" Naruto wondered.

**"Yes, but the seal is too tight for me to give you a good amount of chakra. If I tried to force more chakra through the seal, it would either rupture and kill you us both, or cut me off and mess up your coils from the sudden lack of extra chakra," **Kyuubi explained while yawning. Naruto just blanched and decided to leave the seal and return to his mother.

Naruto blinked and saw that he was back in the hospital with his mother. She was sitting back on her bed while reading a small book titled, "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja".

"Oh, you're back," Kushina said as she noticed her son moving.

"Yeah, Kyuubi said that you should know how to do the Kuchiyose no Jutsu?" Naruto asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yeah, I've seen Tsunade-sensei do it several times so I remember the hand seals."

"But why didn't you sign the Kitsune Contract?" Naruto asked.

"I never really wanted to sign a contract. I never used a lot of Ninjutsu anyway, always preferring my Kenjutsu over the other arts," Kushina explained. She then proceeded to show Naruto the hand seals needed to perform the technique.

After making the hand seals several times to get a good grasp on the order, Naruto performed the technique with the blood sacrifice and slammed his hands down on the ground, causing a poof of smoke to erupt. After coughing and waving the smoke away, Naruto and Kushina looked down to see a small fox with two tails and red fur staring up at them.

"So which one of you is our new Summoner?" the kitsune asked. Naruto raised his hand, still shocked that he was able to summon something on his first try. The fox then walked over to Naruto and sniffed him. "Why do you have Kyuubi-sama's scent on you?"

"Well, he's sealed inside me," Naruto explained while rubbing the back of his head.

The kitsune frowned a little before asking, "I see, well may I have the name of the Kitsune Clan's newest Summoner and his *sniff sniff* mother?"

"Ah right! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"And I'm Kushina Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki? Very interesting, I'm sure that we'll have a wonderful partnership Naruto-san, my name is Higitsune." **(2)**

**"Kit ask him who's been in chaarge since my absence," **Kyuubi asked.

"The Kyuubi wants to know who's been in charge since he's been sealed," Naruto said.

Higitsune chuckled and told him, "His mate Yugana **(3)**, has had the entire skulk searching for you since you vanished. Eventually she decided to wait for you to come back on your own. Said something about you sleeping outside the den for making her wait to long."

The Kyuubi gulped and began to sweat nervously, remembering the last time he had to sleep outside. He was soaked to the bone due to the rain. Naruto just laughed as he felt the Bijuu's fear.

"If that is all, then I shall be going," Higitsune said as he vanished in a puff of smoke. Then there was a knock on the door and Kushina yelled for them to come in, and the door opened to reveal Hitomi and her daughters.

"Kushina-chan! It really is you!" Hitomi squealed in joy. She then looked to her left and ordered, "Get in here you coward! She's not going to hurt you.

"She'll kill me once she finds out what happened!" Hiashi's voice protested. Even though he was elated at the Hokage's news about what the elders told Hinata, he was still scared about seeing Kushina. Hitomi growled and reached over and yanked Hiashi into the room.

"Hello Hiashi," Kushina greeted in a calm tone.

Seeing how her father was nervous of this woman, Hanabi couldn't help but ask, "Tou-san, is this the woman you were afraid of and made a fort to protect yourself?"

Kushina just gave him a blank look and asked, "Really Hiashi? I always knew that Hizashi-kun was braver than you. Speaking of him, where is that softie anyway?"

The mood seemed to darken after Kushina spoke and Hitomi told her, "Kushina, Hizashi died years ago."

Kushina's eyes widened and she began to shake. "How?" Was all she asked.

Hiashi sighed and told her about Hinata being kidnapped and Hizashi dying in Hiashi's place. Needless to say, Kushina was in tears at the end, two of her best friends were dead in the time she was missing. Eventually she was able to calm down.

"Hey Hitomi, can you come here for a moment?" Kushina asked. Hitomi got closer and Kushina whispered into her ear, and she nodded.

"Girls, can you give me a hand here? Kushina-chan needs some female assistance," Hitomi asked. Both her daughters nodded and went to the bed while Hitomi closed the curtains, leaving Naruto and Hiashi alone with the still comatose Natsumi. Naruto went over to his sister and held onto her hand gently, rubbing the top of it with his thumb.

"Mommy..." He heard her mumble. Naruto stopped what he was doing and looked at Natsumi in shock. Hiashi looked over as well, having heard with his advanced shinobi hearing.

_'Is she waking up?'_ Naruto thought hopefully. His answer came when the girl began to slightly stir. Natsumi then slowly opened her eyes, revealing the emerald green orbs within. She then began to look around frantically with a panicked look in her eyes.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Natsumi cried frantically, it didn't take a Nara to figure out what happened next.

"Kushina!" Hitomi cried as a crash was heard.

"Natsumi!" Kushina cried as she practically dragged herself out of her bed and to the panicking girl. Hiashi helped Kushina up as she forced herself to the girl and wrapping her up in a tight hug as she began to sob into her mothers embrace.

"Mommy, a-are these any o-of the mean p-p-people?" Natsumi asked as she nervously looked at everyone.

"Shhh, no my little angel, these are GOOD people," Kushina said. "And this boy right here is your older brother that I've been telling you about."

Natsumi looked to where Kushina was gesturing, and saw Naruto. "A-are you N-Naruto-nii-san?" She asked. He nodded and she slowly reached out to him, and he held out his hand. She wrapped her hand around two of his fingers and lightly squeezed. Naruto smiled and gently squeezed her and in a reassuring manner.

"Mommy, w-who are they?" Natsumi asked when she saw the Hyuga family.

Kushina smiled and said, "These are some of my friends and their children. Don't worry, they won't hurt you or me." Natsumi nervously looked at the Hyugas before she lightly nodded and clung to Kushina tightly.

* * *

(Flashback End)

Eventually, she came to trust everyone, even Tsunade and Shizune when they had come in to check up on the female Uzumakis. However, she was nervous whenever Hiruzen came around for some reason. Tsunade had taken the two Uzumakis into her own home in the Senju Compound, and she forced Naruto to go with them. Especially since Kushina would blow a gasket if he refused.

The young blond was shaken from his thoughts when Hinata and Kurenai entered the clearing.

"Hi Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried as he jumped down in front of her.

"EEP!" Hinata shrieked as she sent a chakra powered palm strike into Naruto's gut, launching him through a tree and into another. Once Hinata realized what she had done, she began to sputter some form of an apology while Kurenai laughed her head off.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried as she raced over to him and him out of the tree. "Are you okay?! Speak to me!" She cried frantically while shaking him, causing the poor Jinchuriki to foam at the mouth.

During the month, Hinata had gained more confidence from not only the change in her chakra, but also from Kushina. The redheaded woman seemed to have some skill in getting people over their shyness considering that she helped Hitomi when they were Genin. At least Hinata stopped stuttering, but the fainting was another thing entirely.

As a result of her newfound confidence, Hinata had changed her attire somewhat. She swapped out her bulky jacket for a more lighter one that hugged her maturing body in several places. The jacket was lavender in color with the Hyuga emblem on the back of it.

"Please Naruto-kun! Wake up!" Hinata cried.

"He won't wake up if you keep shaking him like that."

"EEP!" Hinata shrieked again, whirling around to see Shino standing a few feet away. Confused by his words, she looked down to see an unconscious Naruto beneath her. She jumped away and began to blush deeply due to the close proximity she was in with Naruto, at least she didn't faint this time.

Kurenai, who had finally stopped laughing, walked over and said with a mischevious grin, "Hinata! Don't eat Naruto's ramen!"

The result was instantaneous, Naruto bolted to his feet and tackled Hinata, pinning her arms while looking around for the imaginary ramen. He heard a small squeak and looked down to see a red-faced Hinata staring up at him with big eyes.

Naruto jumped back and began to sputter some form of nonsense while blushing like a tomato. Hinata just stared up at the sky, not responding. Kurenai was sent into another bout of laughter, and you could see the smirk on Shino's face.

"Okay, can we please calm down now?" Kurenai giggled as she tried to compose herself. Everyone calmed down and stood before their sensei, Shino was in between his other team members.

"What do you need Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I've got some important news to tell you guys," Kurenai began. "There was a meeting between the Jounin sensei's and Hokage-sama about the upcoming Chunin Exams. And I've nominated all of you to enter the Exams next week."

"Are you sure we're ready sensei?" Hinata asked. "We're just rookies."

"If it makes you feel any better, Teams 7 & 10 are entering as well," Kurenai told them.

"Oh no," Naruto moaned, "we have to deal with the banshee and the teme, again!"

"In my experience, it would be better to just kill people who bother you," Zabuza said as he and Haku entered the clearing.

The former Nukenin was given a Konoha headband after being cleared for duty a month ago. He was currently a month into his probation and only had two months to go.

As for Haku, she was tested in every ninja field and was given the rank of Chunin because of her skill. She was now sporting a Konoha Chunin vest instead of the green haori she wore in wave, and had a loose fitting brown shirt and tight black pants that reached the tops of her knees.

"Zabuza-sama, what have we talked about when it came to doing things like that?" Haku asked with a sweet smile, making Zabuza unconsciously take a step back.

"Uh, to stop?" Zabuza suggested. Haku just smiled and turned around to see Naruto stiffling his laughter. "Got something to say brat?" Zabuza growled. Naruto just grinned and shook his head.

"As much as most of the shinobi population would love for you to at least humiliate him, the rest of the village would go out of their way to make your life a living Hell," Kurenai told him.

"What about Pinky?" The swordsman asked.

"Councilwoman's daughter," Kurenai said with a hint of disgust.

"Tsk. I'm guessing that it gives her some form of immunity?" Zabuza asked. Kurenai sadly nodded and let out a tired sigh.

"The banshee will just go and whine to her mother," Naruto said. "BUT nothing will happen if she doesn't know who pranked her or anything." Naruto finished with a large grin. Zabuza and Haku smirked and began to plot.

"You guys better make it to the finals, I'm gonna be betting on you," Zabuza told them.

Kurenai smirked and said, "Don't worry, my team's going to become Chunin with their skills."

"Do you really have so much faith in us Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"From what I've seen, this team has grown the most since graduating from the Academy," Kurenai told her. "Asuma's told me that his team has good teamwork, but aren't motivated a lot. And you've already seen how Kakshi's team is, the only Konoha team you'll have to worry about, is Team Gai."

Hinata flinched when she heard the team that her cousin was on. She was worried that she would have to fight him during the exams. Naruto saw her dilemma and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and calmed her down.

"That being said, don't underestimate the other Villages either, we don't know what they've been teaching their Genin. So stay alert," Kurenai finished.

"We will go forth and compete to the best of our ability," Shino said as he pushed up his glasses.

"We'll do our best," Hinata told her with confidence.

"We're gonna become Chunin if it's the last thing we do!" Naruto shouted. Kurenai smiled and told them where they needed to go next week.

* * *

(At the Hospital)

"What did you need Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked as he walked into the Sannin's office. She had sent the aged Hokage a message saying that she needed him at the hospital.

"I've been going over Natsumi's blood work and found something that might give you and Kushina some good news," Tsunade said.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "After the large headache we got due to digging up Kushina's grave, I'll need every bit of good news I can get."

* * *

(Flashback-Konoha Graveyard-Midnight)

Hiruzen sighed as he and Tsunade watched several ANBU perform a Doton jutsu and raised up a coffin from the earth below. The writing on the coffin said, 'Kushina Uzumaki' in bright gold letters.

"Alright, open it up Tsunade," Hiruzen said as the Sannin walked forward and placed her hands on the top of the coffin and yanked it off. Everyone then crowded around the coffin and looked inside. The only thing inside was a kanji that said 'blood', written in blood.

"What is this sensei?" Tsundae asked.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and said, "That, is the result of a kinjutsu."

"What kind of kinjutsu?" Tsunade asked.

"It's known as the Blood Clone Jutsu," Hiruzen explained. "The user takes some of their blood and creates a clone from it. The only thing that's different is that it's like creating a true clone, one that needs to eat, drink, sleep, and other things that we need to do. They also work like Kage Bunshin with the memory transfer portion, but only if the user absorbs the clone back into their body."

"But I don't understand how we could have buried a clone? Wouldn't it have dispelled?" Tsunade asks.

"A Blood Clone can stay 'dead' for about a month before it dispels. After that, then it turns back into blood and the blood forms the kanji that we are seeing now," Hiruzen told her.

"So someone must have taken Kushina after you left, created a Blood Clone of her, and then took the real Kushina away," Tsunade realized. Hiruzen just nodded in agreement and ordered the ANBU to put the coffin back.

* * *

(Flashback End)

"I still can't figure out who created the Blood Clone," Hiruzen muttered.

"Bah, you know that it was Danzo," Tsunade said as she gave her sensei a glare.

Hiruzen just sighed, "The good news?"

"Right," Tsunade said as she whirled around in her chair and picked up Natsumi's file. "So I took a look at her DNA, and found out who the father was."

"Please don't tell me it was Danzo," Hiruzen pleaded.

Tsunade shivered at the thought and told him, "First off, never put that thought in my head again. Second, it was Minato."

"But how, he's dead! His soul's in the Shinigami's stomach!" Hiruzen shouted.

"I'm guessing that Danzo took some of Minato's stored semen and impregnated Kushina with it in hopes of having his own 'Orange Hokage'," Tsunade explained with a smirk. Hiruzen just shook his head with a small smile on his face, being thankful that Kushina would get some good news.

* * *

(Later at Ichiraku's)

Naruto and Hinata were having another ramen eating contest while Ayame watched in amazement and slight disgust. Once again, Hinata beat Naruto's 32 bowls with her 44.

"All hail the Queen of Ramen," Naruto declared as he got onto his knees and began to bow at Hinata's feet. The young heiress just giggled at her teammates antics and pulled him to his feet.

"Come on Naruto-kun, you're embarrassing me," Hinata said as she blushed with a smile on her face.

Naruto just smiled at her, but before he could say anything, he noticed something to his left. He looked over and sweat dropped at what he saw. It was a square box with two eyeholes on the front of it.

"He still hasn't gotten any better, has he?" Naruto asked.

Hinata looked over and said, "No, he hasn't."

Naruto just sighed and yelled, "Get out here Konohamaru!"

The box exploded in smoke and loud coughing could be heard from within the smoke.

"Udon! You used too much smoke!" a female voice cried.

"S-sorry!" a congested boy's voice appologized.

When the smoke cleared, three children could be seen trying to wave what was left of it away. The first boy was wearing a green outfit with a large scarf and had spiky brown hair. The second boy was wearing glasses and looked like he was sick. The lone girl was standing tall with her orange hair in two pigtails that stood straight into the air.

"...He's multiplied..." Naruto muttered.

He and Hinata first met Konohamaru when they went to get their pictures taken for their Ninja Cards. He had attempted to 'assassinate' the Sandaime, and tripped on his scarf. After a heated argument with Naruto, he had taken to calling the older blond 'Boss' and making him his rival to becoming Hokage.

"Who are your friends Konohamaru-kun?" Hinata politely asks.

"I'm Udon, and I like math!" the other boy said.

"I'm Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in the Academy!" the girl said.

"I'm Konohamaru, the strongest ninja in the Academy!" the young Sarutobi proclaimed. "And together we make..."

"The Konohamaru Corps!" All three children finished as they made ridiculous poses. Naruto just face palmed and Hinata giggled at their antics.

"Say Boss, will you play Ninja with us?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto grinned and said, "Sure! It was getting a little boring around here anyway."

"What kind of ninja plays Ninja with a bunch of brats?" Sakura scoffed as came around the corner.

Hinata rolled her eyes and said, "One who has a life."

"I do have a life!" Sakura protested.

"Sure, a life that revolves around trying to break into Sasuke-teme's house and rape him while he's asleep," Naruto said, causing Sakura to fume.

"Hey Boss, is this your girlfriend?" Konohamaru asked.

"NO WAY IN HELL!" Naruto roars.

"As if I would let him do something that stupid!" Hinata yells.

"Me and Naruto-baka! Gross!" Sakura screeches.

"Oh good, I just wanted to make sure," Konohamaru said with a grin. "You would do much better with Hinata-nee-san, she's more prettier than that pink monkey!"

Hinata and Naruto blushed at that, imagining what Konohamaru was saying, while Sakura let out a scream of rage and began to chase the Konohamaru Corps down an alley, where Konohamaru cried out in pain. Hinata and Naruto then ran down the alley to see what had happened.

Naruto and Hinata turned the corner to see Konohamaru being held off of the ground by a teenager wearing a full body suit that had a cat-like appearance. He had purple paint on his face, and had a large bandaged bundle on his back.

"That hurt you brat," the teen growled as he tightened his grip on Konohamaru's shirt.

"Enough Kankuro, stop playing with the little kids," the female behind him said, she was wearing a violet outfit and had her dirty blond hair tied into four pigtails. On her back was a giant metal bar of some kind. Both of them had Sunagakure headbands.

"Relax Temari, just let me teach this kid how to respect his betters," Kankuro told her with a smirk. Temari just rolled her eyes and watched out of boredom.

"Put me down you makeup wearing freak!" Konohamaru cried.

"You brat! Just for that, you're going to get a world of hurt!" Kankuro growled as he pulled back his fist. But before he could punch the young boy, his fist was grabbed by a clawed gauntlet, as was his head.

"I suggest you put him down unless you would like to be executed for harming the Hokage's grandson," Naruto said in an eerily calm voice, putting pressure on Kankuro's head.

Kankuro and Temari gulped after this realization. The older boy dropped Konohamaru who scrambled over to Hinata and his two friends.

Naruto then saw a flicker of movement to his left and shouted, "Sasuke get out of the tree! You're making a fool of yourself!"

Everyone turned and saw the last Uchiha standing on a tree branch glaring at everyone there.

"Besides, why don't you introduce us to your new friend?" Naruto asked as he gestured to Sasuke's left. Everyone looked over to see a young redhead with pale skin upside down on the branch next to Sasuke. He had green eyes surrounded by black rings and a giant gourd on his back. What caught most peoples attention, was the red kanji for 'love' on the left side of his forehead.

**"Let's see, *sniff sniff* blood, sand, gore, and a hint of madness," **Kyuubi mused. **"Smells like that damned tanuki."**

_"Who?" _Naruto asked.

**"I'll tell you later,"** Kyuubi waved him off.

"Ga-Gaara," Kankuro gasped out when he saw the younger boy. Temari was also shaking at the sight of the redhead as he glared at them.

"Kankuro, you're a disgrace to the village," Gaara said as he glared at the older boy.

"B-but Gaara-" Kankuro was cut off when Gaara vanished in a sand Shunshin and reappeared in front of him and Naruto.

"Shut up before I kill you," Gaara told him.

_'Those eyes, he really would kill his own teammate,'_ Naruto realized. He then let go of Kankuro and stepped back to Hinata and Sakura as they watched.

"What are Suna ninjas doing in the village?" Sakura asked.

Temari snorted and said, "We're here for the Chunin Exams Pinky, Konoha's hosting them this year."

Sakura turned red with anger, but before she could go and get destroyed by the Suna kunoichi, Sasuke dropped down onto the ground, making her go and gush over how 'cool' he was.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke smirked and said, "I am-"

"Not you, the one with the gauntlets and the Hyuga," Gaara cut him off without looking at Sasuke, making him fume.

"My name is Hinata Hyuga."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, what's your name?"

"I am Gaara Sabaku, I will enjoy killing you in the exams, Naruto Uzumaki," Gaara said with a dark smirk on his face. Hinata shivered and gripped Naruto's arm as he glared at the murderous Suna nin.

"Temari, Kankuro, let's go," Gaara ordered as he walked away, the other two following him.

"I have no idea why he's interested in a loser like you anyway, I'll be the one to defeat him," Sasuke declared as he walked away, Sakura following him.

"Man, what a jerk!" Moegi said.

"You said it!" Konohamaru agreed.

Naruto chuckled and told him, "You know, you would have turned out like that if me and Hinata-chan never met you."

The Konohamaru Corps shivered at the thought before they said their goodbyes and left.

* * *

"So what do you think?" a white haired Kumo ninja asked as he sucked on his lollipop. He and his teammates were on the rooftops nearby and saw the confrontation.

"I don't know what to think, but that redhead looks like the one we were warned about," his redhead teammate said. She and the male had swords on their backs and had dark skin.

"Yeah, but that Konoha ninja looks interesting," their other teammate said. She was a blond haired girl tied in a ponytail with a purple outfit. She was also the only one who had light skin.

"Who? The Uchiha? He had that look in his eye," the male asked.

The blond shook her head. "No, that Naruto guy, he had a certain...air around him. One that just drew my attention, it feels familiar."

"Then we should keep an eye on him as well," the redhead said, the other two agreed before they left.

* * *

"An Uzumaki? I thought we wiped them all out ages ago," a Kirigakure Genin commented as he and his team watched from the shadows. The one that spoke was wearing fishnet armor underneath samurai armor that was usually seen in the Tetsu no Kuni. He had black pants and a tanto strapped to his back. His brown hair covered the right side of his face.

"I don't think that he's an Uzumaki, Hamaguri** (4)**, they had red hair and pale skin," his teammate said. He was wearing a similar outfit except he had a kusarigama at his waist instead of a sword. His black hair was tied in a ponytail that reached the back of his neck.

You have a point Mekajiki **(5)**, how about you, Shujin? **(6) **What do you think?" Hamaguri asked, sneering at the end.

The final member of the group was wearing the least amount of clothing. He wore black pants that reached his knees and black sandals. Over his upper body was a blue robe that had a hood covering his head. The only thing that could be seen was the small braid of black hair with white mixed into it. He just sat there in silence while his teammates became frustrated.

"Answer me!" Hamaguri yelled while holding up two fingers and expelling chakra.

Shujin flinched for a moment before saying in a drone-like voice, "I believe that he should be eliminated, even if he is not an Uzumaki. We have no way of knowing that he is, so it would become problematic if he turns out to be one."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Hamaguri taunted while Mekajiki snickered in amusement. Shujin jerked his body again and took a deep breath of air.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata were walking towards the Senju Compound. Hitomi had forced Hiashi to agree to them visiting the compound once a day, the rest of the clan just thought that Hitomi wanted to see her old sensei and didn't question it.

However, before they could get there, they heard the distinct sound of people arguing.

"The only reason we accepted you as a teammate was to get into these exams! It doesn't mean that we have to like you, you freak!" a male voice yells.

"Oh yeah?! Well once I become a Chunin, then I won't have to listen to you two jerks while you stay as pathetic Genin!" a female voice cried.

The two members of Team 8 peaked around the corner to see a trio of Taki ninjas arguing, two males and one female. The two males didn't stand out too much, but the female caught their attention.

She was about their age, and had mint green hair that reached town to the middle of her neck with an orange hair clip. She was wearing a white top that covered her chest and revealed her midriff with mesh armor underneath, and a white apron skirt over mesh shorts. She had white arm warmers and white shinobi sandals. She had a large red cylinder on her back, and had her Takigakure headband on her right arm.

"Tsh, whatever, let's go, maybe sensei can give us some new jutsu," the other male said as he his teammate left the girls grinding her teeth.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he and Hinata walked over.

The girl whirled around with her fist raised, but lowered it when she saw that it was people her age. "Would you be alright when your entire team hates you?" she asked.

"Try having most of the village wishing you were dead," Naruto said, making the girl widen her eyes.

**"Kit, take a good sniff of the air for a moment," **Kyuubi said. Naruto did so and the Kyuubi muttered, **"Hmm, beetles, scale powder, and clean wind, smells like the Nanabi."**

_'She's like me?'_ Naruto asked, to which the Kyuubi nodded in confirmation.

"Wait, you're hated too?" the girl asked. Naruto nodded and the girl got closer to them and whispered, "Are you a monster like me?"

Naruto frowned and Hinata looked sad. "No, we are NOT monsters, we're just misunderstood, you and I," Naruto told her. Hinata nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean? I've been told that I'm a monster all my life," the girl said.

Naruto shook his head and said, "No, we just contain monsters, we're not the monsters themselves."

**"I am no monster," **Kyuubi protested.

_'Would you rather be known as a fairy or something like that?'_ Naruto asked.

**"...I am a monster! FEAR ME!" **Kyuubi roared, making Naruto sweat drop.

"W-what are you talking about?" the girl asked, feeling confused.

"Have people called you...Insect or something similar?" Naruto asked, having gotten the Nanabi's general appearance from the Kyuubi. The girl nodded and Naruto told her, "Then you're like me, a Jinchuriki, someone who contains a Bijuu inside of them."

"W-what?" the girl managed to choke out. "B-but all my life...I've been told..." The girl couldn't say anymore as she was shocked by this revelation. It completely clashed with what she had been told all her life.

"When you molded chakra, have you ever seen a seal on your body?" Naruto asked. The girl nodded told them that it was on her back. So Naruto explained to her what it meant and what was sealed inside her. After several minutes, the girl was able to pull herself back together.

"So what's your name?" Hinata asked.

The girl gave a small smile and said, "I'm Fuu, what about you two?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I am Hinata Hyuga."

"Well, pleased to meet you. So what Bijuu do you hold?" Fuu asked. Naruto held up nine fingers, making the Taki girl widen her eyes in shock, seeing that his Bijuu was more powerful than hers.

"Well it was nice to meet you guys, but I think I should head back before I get into trouble with my _sensei_," Fuu spat out that last word with disgust. After she left Hinata turned to Naruto, seeing him in deep thought.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, it's just...I knew that there were others like me, but I never would have thought that their lives were worse than mine," Naruto explained. "I mean, it's really hard to imagine a life worse than your own."

"I think I know what you mean," Hinata said. "If I never met you, I probably would have been an extremely shy girl who would never be able to get out of her shell."

Naruto smiled and said to her, "You don't give yourself enough credit Hinata-chan, I mean sure you were shy in the beginning, but now you've got your own confidence."

Hinata smiled at the praise and nodded in agreement. The two then began walking towards the Senju Compound again.

"Kyuubi thinks that Fuu isn't the only Jinchuriki in the Exams," Naruto suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, surprised by this revelation.

"That Gaara guy, Kyuubi says that Shukaku the Ichibi is sealed in him," Naruto told her. "He also smelled another Bijuu in the area, but couldn't tell who it was since the scent was to weak."

"That means that we'll have to be extra careful then," Hinata said. Naruto nodded in agreement.

* * *

(Next Week)

The members of Team 8 were standing outside of the Academy, each one ready for the exams.

Shino had changed his appearance during the week of training. He had unbuttoned the top part of his jacket, allowing people to see his face. He had strapped his twin swords to his his waist on each side, ready to use them.

Hinata had brought her bow and arrow, confident in her ability to use them. Just three days ago, Tenten had deemed Hinata ready to use them in real combat, impressed with the younger girls ability.

Naruto didn't change much except for the fact that he had created storage seals on his gauntlets. One seal contained shuriken, another had kunai, and the other two contained exploding tags and fuuma shuriken. He also had brought with him some extra masks incase he got more hearts.

"You two ready?" Naruto asked.

"I am prepared," Shino told him.

"Let's go," Hinata said with determination. Naruto grinned and pushed the doors to the Academy open.

Team 8 had entered the Chunin Exams.

* * *

**Done! Wow, what a chapter!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed it, I put a lot of work into this chapter since I won't be writing for a while. School's starting this week and I need to focus on getting used to my new routine for a while. So please, DON'T ASK ME WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER IS!**

**1: You guy's won't even have a clue as to what creatures are in this contract. I'm pretty sure that what I have planned, has never been done. You can try to guess, but you probably won't get it right.**

**2: Means Firefox.**

**3: Means Graceful**

**4: Means Clam**

**5: Means Whale**

**6: Means Prisoner**

**Fuu's here! I know that the intro was short, but she'll have her screen time in the exams.**

**Now onto a serious question I have for all of you. Do you still want it to be a Naru/Hina/Fuu story, or do you want it to go to a NaruHina story. I've received several messages telling me that they're going to have a hard time accepting Fuu due to her late appearance. If you don't want her as a part of the small harem, then it will only affect the romance part of the story since I'm making her a main character.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	14. Chapter 14: The First Exam

Chapter 14: The First Exam

* * *

**Miss me? I know you did! After all, many of you can't live without my updates! Or, that's what I've determined from some of your responses, from saying that I need to update now to becoming desperate and thinking that I'm going to cancel this, which would only happen if I was dead!**

**Many of you have wanted me to keep Fuu in the pairing, and some of you have criticized me for asking a simple question. So she'll stay, and I'll continue with the original plot that I've created.**

**I am disappointed in all of you. Many of you haven't even guessed as to what creatures are in that special Summoning Contract. And those of you who have aren't using your brains the right way. Some of you have guessed Pokemon, Digimon, and Kaiju, things that have already been used. You people need to think harder.**

**Anyway, it's time to start the Chunin Exams!**

* * *

(Academy)

"So where do we have to go again?" Naruto asked as he and his team walked into the Academy.

"To room 301, that's where Kurenai-sensei said the first part of the exams were," Hinata told him as she opened the door of the building. The team walked in and went up the flight of stairs and saw a crowd of people gathered around a door that said 301. Two Genin were guarding the door. They had knocked down another Genin who was wearing a green spandex suit with orange leg warmers. What caught Naruto's attention was the shiny bowl of hair on his head, and the thick eyebrows. Naruto swore that they moved on their own!

"Please let us pass!" the Genin cried as his teammate, who Team 8 recognized as Tenten, helped him up.

"We're helping you Genin. These exams are tougher than you think," one of the older Genin said.

"Yeah, if you can't beat us, then you have no chance passing the first stage," his partner said.

"Aren't we on the _second_ floor?" Naruto whispered.

"Yes, there's a Genjutsu over the door," Hinata whispered back. The team then inched their way to the next flight of stairs to avoid detection.

"Drop the Genjutsu," a snobby voice demanded. Team 8 looked back and groaned when they saw Sasuke standing there with a superior smirk. The sign on the door changed from 301 to 201.

"Great, that idiot messed up everything. Now we're going to have MORE competition," Kiba complained as he walked in with Sakura, who bashed him in the head for what he said.

Sasuke then went to attack the older Genin when the boy in spandex lept up and blocked all of them.

"Lee! I thought you wanted to hide your skills from everyone!" Tenten yelled.

"My appologies Tenten, but I could not allow this un-youthful conduct continue!" Lee shouted as he stood up again.

_'Fast! I barely saw him move!'_ Naruto thought.

**"And I can see that he wasn't even putting any effort into that," **Kyuubi said, slightly impressed. Naruto's eyebrows shot up at that, this guy was someone to be careful around.

"Tch, how foolish," the third teammate, Neji, said as he looked at Lee with disgust in his eyes. He then turned to Sasuke and narrowed his eyes.

"Uchiha."

"Hyuga."

The two stared at each other for what seemed like a while before they huffed and turned away. Meanwhile, Lee was staring intently at Sakura with hearts in his eyes, creeping her out.

"Are you Sakura Haruno?" Lee asked.

"Yes, why?" the pinkette asked as she stared at Lee curiously.

"I am Rock Lee, please be my girlfriend," Lee asked as he smiled at her, teeth shining, and there was a small _ping_ that sounded when the light reflected off of them.

_'Why would anyone want to date HER of all females?'_ Kiba thought.

_'I'm guessing that he never heard about how annoying she was,'_ Shino thought.

_'Lee...what is wrong with you?'_ Tenten asker herself.

_'I remember the times Hinata-sama would complain about this classmate, I suppose Lee never heard those stories,'_ Neji realized.

_'Lee, run away while you can,'_ Hinata pleaded.

_'Oh boy, this won't end well,' _Naruto thought, the Kyuubi nodding in agreement.

"No way! You're a freak!" Sakura screeched. Lee was stunned for a moment before he smiled again.

"I see that your heart is already won over by another, no matter! I shall prove that I am superior to this competitor for your heart!" Lee declared.

_'Oh boy,'_ was the collective thought of most of the Konoha group. Team 8 then fled for the stairs and went upstairs. Naruto told them to wait and went to get a quick drink of water. Hearing some people on the area below them, they looked down to see Team 7 walking.

"Please wait up!" Lee shouted as he ran forward towards the three Genin.

"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded.

"You are Sasuke Uchiha correct?" Lee asked.

"That's right," he confirmed.

"Then I challenge you to a battle here and now," Lee declared.

"Now this I gotta see," Naruto said as he and his team stood on the upper level and stared down at the four.

"So you know who I am, yet you're still challenging me to a fight? You must be confident," Sasuke smirked.

"But Sasuke-kun, we have to go to the examination room before it' too late!" Sakura tried to tell him.

Lee narrowed his eyes for a moment and said, "I see, so you are the one who had captured the heart of the lovely Sakura. No matter! I shall defeat you and win her heart!" he then winked at her and somehow shot a heart at her. Sakura screamed in terror and hastily dodged the heart as it hit the wall behind her. Lee shot out more hearts and Sakura dodged them like they were poisoned kunai. Naruto and Kiba rolling on the floor laughter, Hinata was giggling at the sight, and Shino was quietly chuckling.

"Gah! What are you, crazy?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was!?" Sakura growled.

"Dangerous? Hehe, yeah right," Naruto giggled.

"I often wonder if the Academy lowered their standards when we were there," Shino muttered low enough so that his team could hear.

Sasuke and Lee then crouched low and entered their own fighting stances. Sasuke with the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist, and Lee with the Goken. Sasuke rushed forward and threw a punch at Lee, who vanished instantly. Everyone's eye's widened and Naruto discretely activated his Sharingan, thankful for Kakashi teaching him a Genjutsu to hide it while he had it active.

"Konoha Senpu!" Lee cried as he threw a kick at Sasuke, who dodged it. Lee then followed up with another kick while standing on his hand. Sasuke tried to block it, but was too slow and ended up getting kicked in the cheek.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried as the Uchiha was sent flying, skidding across the ground.

"He's fast!" Hinata whispered.

"Very, and my insects say that he isn't using any chakra in his attacks," Shino whispered back. Naruto just stood there, observing the clearly one-sided fight. Sasuke weakly got up and glared at Lee, activating his Sharingan.

"With these eyes, you don't stand a chance," Sasuke declared, smirking cockily.

"I see, so that is the famous Sharingan," Lee muttered. "No matter, it won't help you here."

Sasuke dashed forward once again and received a kick in the chin from Lee, sending him flying. Everyone was shocked, they never expected to see that Sasuke would be beaten that easily, even with the Sharingan at his aid.

"As you can see, my technique is purely Taijutsu, there is no Ninjutsu or Genjutsu involved in this," Lee said as he and Sasuke rushed at each other once again, trading blows, all while Lee kept hitting Sasuke whenever his guard was down.

After receiving a vicious hit to the gut, Sasuke backed away while glaring at Lee. He then rushed at him again, throwing punches while Lee merely dodged all of them before kicking him into the air. Lee the appeared behind the airborne Sasuke. His bandages around his arms then unraveled and began to wrap around Sasuke.

Suddenly, a pinwheel shot through the air and pierced the bandage against the wall, throwing Lee off course and separating him from Sasuke. Sasuke fell and Sakura caught him, much the the Uchiha's displeasure. Lee managed to right himself as he landed in front of...

A turtle?

Yes, a giant turtle. One that was mainly red with yellow marking along its body, and a Konoha headband tied around its neck.

"Lee! You swore never to use that move against a fellow Konoha ninja!" the turtle scolded.

"Is...that a summon?" Naruto asked.

"Well, they are the only species of animals that can talk," Hinata pointed out.

"It's time for your punishment!" the turtle shouted as a cloud of smoke erupted from the turtles back. When it cleared, an older version of Lee stood there, except this one was wearing a Jounin vest. Everyone was creeped out by their likeness, not to mention the weirdness that was oozing off of him.

"Lee, you fool!" the man yelled. Lee cringed and bowed before the man.

"Please forgive me Gai-sensei!" Lee pleaded.

"Silence!" Gai thundered. "Prepare to take your punishment like a man!" he then punched Lee and sent him flying, much to everyone's shock. Gai then approached Lee with tears running out of his eyes, Lee looked up at him with tears as well.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

The two then hugged as an image of the sunset appeared behind them. Thinking that it was a Genjutsu, Team 8 desperately tried to dispel it.

"What is this?" Naruto asked as he kept trying to dispel it.

**"This is worse than the time the Rokuubi had diarrhea!" **Kyuubi cried as he closed his eyes tight.

"N-Naruto-kun, please tell me it's over," Hinata whimpered. Never before has she seen anything so disturbing. Not even a living skeleton could frighten her over this.

Shino then pulled the two away towards the stairs, where he lead them towards the examination room.

"Why did you do that Shino?" Naruto asked.

"I had noticed that he was speaking with Team 7, so in an attempt to prevent that...Jounin from approaching us, I dragged you two here," Shino explained.

"I see that you've met Gai," Kurenai said as she appeared before them.

"Kurenai-sensei! Why are you here?" Hinata asked.

"To wish you three good luck, there are a lot of tough Genin in there. But I have complete confidence in you guys," Kurenai said before she moved away, allowing Team 8 passage into the room. The trio nodded in agreement and walked into the room. Kurenai smiled and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Team 8 entered the room, and were greeted with the hardened glares of multiple older Genin, each from different villages, and some from their own.

**"Hmp. _This_ is KI? Kit, I want you to release some of my KI and show them that they should be afraid of _you_,"** Kyuubi said. Naruto smirked and let out a large amount of KI, flooding the room in the powerful bloodlust. Everyone turned away from Naruto except for several people. Gaara, who was grinning madly, a female Kumo ninja, and Fuu, who was smirking at Naruto's actions.

"Man Naruto, why do you have to be so troublesome?" Shikamaru asked as he and the rest of his team walked up to them.

Naruto grinned and replied, "It's just a part of my nature."

Choji chuckled and said, "Got that right."

"Hey guys, have you seen Sasuke-kun anywhere?" Ino asked.

"Last time I saw him, he was getting his butt kicked around by an older Genin," Hinata said.

"Woah! Hinata, you didn't stutter!" Choji exclaimed.

"Our last mission helped Hinata change, all we have to work on now is her fainting," Shino said.

Just then, Team 7 walked in, and Sasuke had a nasty bruise on his cheek, courtesy of Lee's heavy hit.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried as she leapt onto his back.

"Get off of him Ino-pig!" Sakura screeched. Ino just stuck her tongue out in response and continued to glomp the Uchiha. Shikamaru just sighed and muttered about how troublesome she was.

After managing to get Ino off of Sasuke, Kiba said to everyone, "Have you guys heard? A bunch of people are calling us the Rookie 9."

"Why?" Choji asked.

"It's because we're the only people in these exams who have been out of the Academy the shortest," Kiba replied.

"Makes sense," Shikamaru muttered. After he said that, a older Konoha ninja wearing a purple outfit approached them. He had silver hair and was wearing glasses.

"Hey, you guys might want to keep it down, you're making yourselves targets with your attitude," he said. Naruto heard the Kyuubi growling in his mind.

_'What's wrong?'_ Naruto asked.

**"Be wary of this one, he smells of snakes," **Kyuubi growled, **"and not the domestic kind."**

Naruto nodded and watched as that ninja introduced himself as Kabuto Yakushi. He then pulled out a deck of cards and explained that they were ninja info cards.

"Give me info on Rock Lee of Konoha, Gaara Sabaku of Suna, and Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha," Sasuke demanded. The rest of the Rookie 9, except the two fangirls, raised an eyebrow at that last selection.

"You already know their names, that's no fun," Kabuto said as he pulled out three cards and channeled chakra into them.

"First up we have Rock Lee, a Genin of Konoha. He's on a team with Tenten Higurashi and Neji Hyuga, under the tutelage of Maito Gai. His Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are practically nonexistent, but his Taijutsu is off the charts!"

"Next we have Gaara Sabaku, a Genin of Suna. He's the youngest child of the Kazekage, and on a team with his older siblings, Temari and Kankuro and taught by their sensei Baki. It's been said that he's completed several C-Rank missions without even getting a scratch."

**"Most likely the result of the Ichibi's Suna no Tate, he grants that protective ability to all of his hosts," **Kyuubi explained. **"The only way to beat that is to either be faster than the sand, or to use an attack that can completely pierce through it."**

"And finally, Naruto Uzumaki, also a Genin of Konoha. He's on Team 8 with Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame, and taught by Kurenai Yuhi, a newly promoted Jounin. His weapon of choice are two clawed gauntlets, and it's been rumored that he has a powerful Jutsu."

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing what he was talking about. He was shaken out of his thoughts when Sasuke stomped up to him and glared Naruto in the eye.

"Teach me that Jutsu," Sasuke demanded.

Naruto glared back and said, "No, this Jutsu isn't something for you anyway." Sasuke huffed and walked away from the Jinchuriki, clearly angry.

"Even though there are a lot of people in these exams, you guys won't have to worry about the ones from Otogakure," Kabuto told them, "They're a new village and it's their first time in the exams, so they probably aren't all that tough."

After he said that, three blurs flew through the crowd and aimed towards Kabuto, revealing themselves to be three Oto ninja. The first one had spikey black hair and a forehead protector styled after the Nidaime Hokage's own headband. The second one was female and had long black hair. But the last one was wrapped in bandages, save for his left eye, and was wearing a large furry coat. Each one had some form of snakeskin on their clothing.

The mummy threw a punch at Kabuto, and he dodged it with a smirk on his face. Until his glasses broke and he vomited on the floor. Hinata and Ino ran over to see if he was okay while Naruto tried to get the ringing out of his ears.

_'What...what was that? That frickin' hurt!'_ Naruto thought.

**"Gh...sound waves were somehow created by that guy," **Kyuubi explained while he was rubbing his ear. **"You might have a hard time against that guy because of my enhanced hearing."**

"Write this down in you cards, the Oto ninja are going to become Chunin!" the one with spiky hair declared.

A large puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room catching everyone's attention. There was a large man, large as in tall and muscular, there who wore a large black trenchcoat. He had a bandana on his head that served as his headband. There were two scars on his face, one going from right next to his left eye down to his chin, and another going from under the right eye to his neck.

"Shut up you maggots!" the man bellowed. "You Oto ninja in the back! Do you want to get kicked out of these exams before they even begin?!"

"Hehe, sorry, we're just a little jumpy," the mummy said.

The Jounin glared at him before he turned to the rest of the examinees and said, "There will be no fighting in this portion of the exams. Now everyone hand in your forms and the proctors will show you where you will be sitting for the written portion of the Chunin Exams."

Everyone handed in their forms and were shown to their seats. Naruto sat down and looked to his left, there was a Kusa ninja with red hair and glasses that intrigued him somewhat.

_'Red hair...for some reason I feel a numbing sensation in the back of my head,'_ Naruto thought. The Kyuubi laid down and began to think about what that was, he had a theory, but didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet.

Naruto then looked to his right and smiled as he saw Hinata sitting next to him. She smiled back and they wished each other good luck.

"I am Ibiki Morino, the head proctor of this exam. For this portion you will all be given a written test that contains 9 questions, the tenth one will be given at the end of the time limit. Now before we begin, there are several rule that need to be said."

"Rules?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, first off, everyone starts with 10 points. You will lose a point for every question you get wrong. So if you miss two questions, your final score will be 8," Ibiki explained. "Rule #2, Teams will pass or fail based on the collective score of all three members. So if one team member fails, so does the rest of the team."

_'I'M SCREWED!' _Kiba wailed, he began to sweat as Sasuke and Sakura glared holes in the back of his head. Akamaru whimpered when he felt the glares his partner was receiving.

"Rule #3, whenever a proctor sees you cheating, he will deduct two points from your score. Their eyes are extremely sharp, and if they catch you five times you and your team will be kicked out of these exams."

_'So if you get caught cheating five times, you lose,'_ Naruto pondered. _'Something about this doesn't make sense, why would they make a rule like that? Wouldn't it be easier if they just kicked the people out if they caught them cheating? Unless...they WANT us to cheat!'_

**"I was wondering when you would get it,"** Kyuubi said.

_'I think I understand the whole point of this exam. They want us to cheat, but in a way that we won't get caught,'_ Naruto realized.

"Now begin!" Ibiki shouted. Almost immediately, all of the examinees picked up their pencils and began to look at the test. Every one of them realized something the second they looked at the questions. These were highly advanced questions.

Sasuke, Hinata, and Neji were using their Doujutsu to cheat. Sasuke was copying the hand movements of the person in front of him and to the left. Hinata and Neji used the Byakugan to look at the answers of others. Gaara had closed one eye and created a ball of sand that turned into an eyeball that was observing the papers from above.

Kiba had Akamaru perched on his head and the tiny dog was looking around while softly barking answers to Kiba, who wrote them down eagerly. Tenten was manipulating a set of mirrors above her to reveal the answers to her. Lee adjusted his headband to allow him to see the mirrors as well.

"Excuse me proctor, can I go to the bathroom?" Kankuro asked. A proctor handcuffed himself to the Suna Genin and lead him out of the room. Naruto raised an eyebrow, but couldn't find anything wrong with the event.

Shikamaru was using his Kagemane to connect him and Choji while he wrote down the answers for both of them. Sakura was using her own knowledge to answer the questions, and Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu to take over the pinkette and steal her answers. But before she went back to her own body, she messed up Sakuras test. She erased all of her answers and wrote down ridiculous ones, and changed the name on the top to Forehead. When she left and Sakura came back, she looked down and looked like she was about to explode, but a glare from Ibiki silenced her.

Fuu and Shino were doing something similar, even though they didn't know it. Shino was using his family's insects to scout others tests and get answers from them. Fuu could always communicate with insects thanks to the Nanabi, even though she never knew it was because of the Bijuu. She was able to use her own horned beetles to gather information. The Oto Genin were using the sounds of the pencils as they were being used to help them get the answers that they needed.

Naruto was lost in how to cheat, sure he could use his Sharingan to copy someone, but that wouldn't be very original according to him. After a minute of thinking, he was struck with inspiration when he saw Gaara's sand eye. He slowly brought his hands together under the desk and formed a few hand seals.

Suddenly, a kunai flew through the air and passed right by his head making him freeze. The kunai impacted against the desk behind him.

"Number 47, you've been caught 5 times, you and your teammates 65 and 18 are gone," a proctor stated as he stared at the Suna ninja.

"And what proof do you have that I was cheating?" the Genin demanded. A nearby proctor dashed forward and slammed the ninja onto the table while twisting his arm backwards.

"Don't question us! You were making it so obvious, an Academy student could figure it out!" the proctor growled as he forced the Genin to his feet and dragged him out the room, his teammates following. Naruto calmed down and began to focus again. All the while, other examinees were being sent out of the room for being caught.

Fox's mask slowly slid off of his back and trailed down his leg, out of sight from the proctors. Hinata saw what he was doing and focused her attention on Naruto since she had already finished her own test. Several threads dug a tunnel under his desk and the mask went into it as the threads continued digging a tunnel under the ground, up the wall, and across the ceiling.

The threads carefully dug through the ceiling and picked away any part of it that would fall off before Fox popped through the hole thy made. Naruto then closed his eye and focused his chakra carefully. Out of Fox's right eyehole, the ghostly image of an eye appeared and looked around. Naruto grinned as he focused in on Shikamaru's test, knowing that he was a genius in disguise, and began to write down his answers. Hinata was amazed at Naruto's actions, never thinking that he was able to do this.

"Penciles down! It's time for the final question," Ibiki announced, breaking the tension in the room. As he was talking, Naruto quickly had Fox come back into his body. "However, before I give you all the question, there is another rule."

_'Is he making these up as he goes along?'_ Naruto asked Kyuubi, who just shrugged. Just then, Kankuro and the proctor walked back in. "Ah, just in time for the final question. I hope your trip was...enlightening," Ibiki said as he watched the Suna Genin.

_'Crap! He knows about Crow!'_ Kankuro panicked. As he walked by Temari, he subtly passed her a crumpled piece of paper.

"This rule, is a hopeless rule," Ibiki said, much to everyone's confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" Temari asked.

Ibiki smirked and explained, "What I mean is that you all have a choice to decide if you want to answer this question or not."

"What happens if we choose not to take it?" Hamaguri asked.

"It's really simple," the Special Jounin began, "I deduct your score to 0, failing you and your entire team." This made everyone gasp, barring the more stoic ones such as Neji and Gaara.

"Then of course we'll take it!" Kiba yelled, Akamaru barking in agreement. Ibiki simply chuckled darkly, much to everyones confusion.

"You'll say that right now, but when I tell you the other rule, you might think again," Ibiki told him. "If you decide to take this question, but fail to answer it correctly, then you will be forbidden from taking the Chunin Exams ever again!" Much to his expectation, there were a lot of protests.

"That is a most un-youthful rule!" Lee cried out.

"What kind of rule is that!?" the redhead next to Naruto yelled. Now that he looked at her more closely, she kind of resembled Kushina, in the temper department at least. There were many other protests as well.

"You guys are unlucky this year," Ibiki coldly said. "This year, I'M in charge of the first exam, so I make the rules. If you don't have the guts to take this question, then I'll be a nice guy and allow you to leave. But remember this, the choice is yours to make, if you want to leave, then simply raise your hand."

_'I want to become a Chunin and make my family proud, but if I fail then I'll stay a Genin,'_ Hinata thought. _'But if I quit now, I'll be ruining the exams for Shino-kun and Naruto-kun! I...I...I don't know what to do!'_ She looked around and saw that Shino was sitting straighter than usual, a sign she learned that he was slightly nervous. She looked at Naruto and saw him sitting there silently as his hair covered his eyes.

"I...can't do it. I'm sorry guys," a Genin said as he slowly stood up.

"Number 54 fails, Numbers 62 and 103 fail as well," a proctor stated as the Genin left the room. Soon after, other Genin began to give up as well, slowly clearing out the room. Naruto looked over and saw Hinata struggling with herself. Even though Hinata had gained a boost in confidence, situations like these would always make her conflict with her old nervous personality.

"What's the matter?" Ibiki asked with false sincerity as he looked at Naruto. "You seem nervous. Don't be, just tell me if you're going to quit or not, unless you want to risk being banned from these exams. Can you take the shame of all that and stay a Genin while everyone else could be promoted to Chunin?" Naruto glared at him and raised up his and before balling it into a fist and slamming it against the table with so much force there was a spiderweb crack in the wood.

"I don't care if I'll be banned from taking these exams anymore!" Naruto began, "If I give up here and now then it goes against everything I live for! Even if I fail here, I'll just work harder so that the Hokage had no choice but to give me a field promotion! So go ahead, fail me, but know this, I'll never give up on accomplishing my goals!"

Naruto's speech seemed to install confidence into everyone as they seemed to lose their nervousness that they had. Hinata smiled and prepared to share Naruto's fate, she reached under the table and grabbed his hand, his eyes flicked over for a moment before a small, unnoticeable smile graced his lips.

_'Definitely an Uzumaki, only they have courage as great as that,'_ Shujin thought with a small smile, one that seemed to contain hope for some reason.

Inside the seal, the Kyuubi smirked at Naruto's actions. He expected this from Kushina's son, especially since they were so similar in personality.

Ibiki then looked over the rest of the examinees. _'Incredible,'_ he thought. _'He managed to erase everyones doubt with one little speech. Looks like nobody else is giving up, time to get this show on the road.'_

"If nobody else is going to leave then I have only one thing to say to all of you," Ibiki said. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting for Ibiki to give them the last question.

"Congratulations on passing the first exam!"

"WHAT?!" Was the collective shout of everyone, sans Gaara who could care less.

"WHAT ABOUT THE 10th QUESTION?!" Sakura screeched, making everyone who was in close proximity to her lose their hearing for a moment.

"There was no 10th question to begin with," Ibiki said with a grin. "You could say that the 10th question was your choice on deciding to take it or not."

"Wait a minute!" Temari shouted. "Then what was with the rest of the questions? Was it all pointless?"

"No, they served their purpose," Ibiki told her. "The original purpose of the test was to pressure everyone with the first rule, the rule about the total team score. It forced everyone not to mess up for their team. I'm sure that you all noticed that they were questions that no mere Genin could answer. So I'm sure that you all came up with the same solution to pass, you would have to cheat to get them. The whole point of this test was to make you cheat."

"To make it easier for you to get points, we had two Chunin among your group to give you the answers if you were able to cheat off of them. I assume that you are all wondering, why the first exam was formatted like this? I will explain. In a Chunin mission, you may have to gather information to help your team succeed. This exam was a sort of training exercise so you would prepare for those type of situations. Getting the wrong information however, could lead to disastrous results that could cost you and your team your lives." The Special Jounin then reached up and began to untie his bandanna. "Or worse."

When the bandanna came off, many people looked disgusted at the sight. Ibiki's head was bald and covered in many burn marks and screw holes.

_'What...the Hell?'_ Naruto thought. Hinata gripped his hand tightly, very uncomfortable with the sight. Ibiki then retied his bandanna after he was sure that everyone got a good look at his head.

"This is what could happen if you gather the wrong info. Not only could you suffer wounds like these, but you could also be forced to reveal the secrets of your village because the pain may be to great. But the real purpose of the test was the final question."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"The 10th question was a to take or don't take situation. If you choose not to take it, you will fail and take your team down with you. But on the other hand, if you DID take the question, but answer incorrectly, then you would never be able to take another Chunin Exam. The whole thing was a leap of faith. The trash who came in here decided to take the easy way out and leave, thinking that there would be another chance. In the real world, there are no second chances to every situation. The final question tested you on your resolve."

"Let's say that you were a Chunin and sent on a mission to gather information on the status of another village. You have no idea about the layout of the village, nor do you have the information about the shinobi there. You also have to suspect that there might be traps in the area. Do you simply reject the mission because it's to dangerous, or because your friends and teammates may get hurt? To put it selfishly, you're afraid of dying. Allow me to tell you something, there are missions with a high level of risk that you can't simply decline. It's understandable if these tasks can be emotionally challenging, but a Chunin must show courage when needed. What you did here today proved that you were able to make a decision that a Chunin would be able to make in a heartbeat. The First Exam is officially over, I wish all of you good luck in the next part."

Everyone, who expressed their emotions, were either smiling or smirking. Naruto and Hinata grinned at each other.

_'5...4...'_ Ibiki began.

Suddenly, the window exploded as a large bundle flew through the air and unfurled as it was held in place by four kunai, holding up the banner. Team 8 then shivered as Anko came flying in.

"There's no time to be happy," she declared, "I am the proctor of the second exam, Anko Mitarashi!" she then punched her fist in the air. "Everyone follow me!"

Naruto quickly made two clones and they scribbled something on paper before they lifted them up. Two clones had written a 10 on the paper while the real one was holding up a 6.

"Why are you giving me a 26?" Anko demanded.

"10 for the entrance," one clone said.

"10 for the small speech," the other one said.

"6 because you got glass all over me!" Naruto yelled. Anko just stuck her tongue out at him and pouted.

"You're early Anko, take a look around," Ibiki said as he came around the banner. Anko then looked around the room and her eyes widened.

"78 Genin Ibiki?! You let 26 teams pass?! Are you getting soft in you old age?" Anko questioned as she turned to the scarred man.

Ibiki smirked and said, "Maybe we just have a talented bunch this year."

"Whatever, by the time I'm done with them, there will be less than half of them left!" Anko declared while giving the group a predatory smirk that unnerved most of the Genin.

"Now follow me to Training Ground 44! If you're late you'll be sorry!" Anko yelled as she jumped out of the window. After a second or two to collect their thoughts, most of the Genin ran out of the door while others grabbed their teammates and used a Shunshin to take them to the next exam. Naruto grabbed Hinata and quickly jumped to Shino and grabbed his arm before he jumped again and dragged them out of the window, looking for a quicker way to the area.

Ibiki sighed and began to collect some of the test papers. All the while, he would chuckle at some of the answers that were written down due to how ridiculous some of them looked. When he came upon another paper he picked it up and saw that there was a message written there.

_Dear Ibiki-san_

_I must say, the way you planned this test was brilliant in its own unique way. However, you need to work on your intimidation tactics, Anko did better than you when Kurenai-sensei had her test us a month or two ago. Perhaps you should use intimidating animals of your own, maybe a giant spider or something like that._

_Jokes aside, I would like you to keep an eye on Kabuto Yakushi, he seems very suspicious. My tenant says that he smells like wild snakes, ones that people wouldn't keep as pets. Not to mention he has information about me that only me, Hokage-sama, and a select few know about. He 'claims' that he has heard rumors about it, but I've never used the secret information in public. EVER._

_Yours truly, Naruto Uzumaki._

Ibiki's eyes widened and he stuffed the paper in his pocket before heading out of the room and making a beeline for the Hokage Tower.

* * *

**Done! First Exam is over!**

**So how was it? Good? Wonderful? Excellent? Come on, you can tell me.**

**I honestly think I did an okay job for the written test, I've seen other chapters about this exam and tried to change it up a little, thought I can understand if you saw something here that you saw in another story. The likeness of the First Exam is something that not every author can avoid because of how it is.**

**In other news, I've read the latest chapter. It was heartwarming to say the least. The final farewell between Naruto and Minato was just something that brought a tear to my eye. Even the words that Minato has to tell Kushina, very touching.**

**Please Review! Ciao!**


	15. Chapter 15: Forest of Death 1

Chapter 15: Forest of Death 1

* * *

**Yo! How's everyone doing? Hope you all are doing well and that everyone's in a good mood. Cause it's time for the ever so famous, Second Exam hosted by everyones favorite Snake Mistress!**

**Now this will be very different from other exams, at least the ones that I'VE read. So if you see a resemblance with another one, don't blame because I probably did it by accident. And I'm not going to read every Second Exam just to make it different. That would be, to quote Shikamaru, very troublesome.**

**Time to answer a few reviews.**

**Guest: It's true, there are very few First Exams where it is unique, so the authors who don't make it unique either follow it with canon or skip it all together. And don't worry about Fuu, I have a good plan on getting her into the relationship. As for the Summoning Contract, I'll admit, I never thought about using the Fairy Tail Dragons or the Gods of Highschool DxD. However, I did consider using the Sacred Beast of Yu-Gi-Oh GX for a while. Unfortunately, you are still wrong.**

**Leaf Ranger: Yeah, I always thought Ibiki's threat could have been done better after I REALLY thought about it.**

**Krazyfanfiction1: Only the hearts that have wings will be able to fly. I'm going to make things more realistic in this story. Though I may use your idea with Naruto using his threads to make equipment.**

**Titkohan: Phoenixes and Dragons have been done already. I said that these Summons are something that have NEVER been done before. Believe me, I've checked everything. There is no sign of anyone even THINKING of what creatures I'm using.**

**biofan09: No rabbits, but I do have something in mind for them. I'm just not sure if I'll go through with it.**

**EndlessChains: Yeah, first time I saw the 'Youthful Duo' creeped me out, and then it just became hilarious as time went on. Don't worry, you'll see more of their antics as time goes on, as well as the humor that goes along with it.**

**ZyiareHellsing: Well I wouldn't say that it's the best. I mean I've seen some pretty good ones during my searches.**

**King Harpo: Isn't it enough that we already have the Edo Tensei? I'm not turning Naruto into a Necromancer or something like that. Besides, what I have planned is better.**

**DBlade 59 (Guest): The chakra pistol sounds like a good idea, but it will have to wait a while, something like that would take a really long time to make. As for Shino, I had planned on giving him the nano insects that Torune has in Shippuden. Hinata's going to be medic, but I'm adding a little surprise onto her skill set. And sorry, but Kurenai's not getting any kind of transplant.**

**Now this one's going to be split into two parts because of what I have planned. Not to mention it'll bring in more reviews from you guys, so it's a win-win. More awesome chapters for you, and more reviews for me.**

**Now it's time to begin!**

* * *

(Training Ground 44)

"Isn't this the place your parents said to stay away from?"

"I think so. I'm not really sure since they never said what it looked like."

"This is that place. I remember my father telling me to stay away from here, he even showed me this place personally so I would know."

Naruto, Hinata, and Shino were standing with the other people who passed the First Exam. They were all waiting just outside of the large fence that separated them from the location that their next exam was supposed to take place.

It was a large forest that contained large trees that seemed to stretch towards the sky. There was a dark atmosphere that seemed to flow out from the forest that unnerved a lot of the people there. It didn't help that there were animals growling in hunger as they smelt the large group outside.

There were quite a few legends about how the Forest of Death was created. A popular one was that Hashirama Senju became so angry at Madara Uchiha's desertion of the village, that his chakra went wild and created the forest. However, the chakra used was very dark in nature and the forest became how it was today, and all the animals that lived in there were affected by the chakra, changing them into more feral creatures.

"Alright maggots, listen up!" Anko shouted as she stood at the head of the group with a dangerous smirk on her face.

"This here is Training Ground 44, also known around here as the Forest of Death! In here is where you will all be taking the second part of the exam."

"This doesn't seem all that bad," Kiba said. Anko heard this and pulled out a kunai before launching it at the Inuzuka faster than most people could see. The kunai grazed Kiba's cheek and drew a small line of blood as Anko reappeared behind him with an arm drapped around his shoulders.

"It's usually you loud ones who die first," Anko whispered as she stuck out her tongue and liked the blood, making Kiba shiver and Akamaru whimper. Sensing movement behind her, Anko quickly drew another kunai and turned around as a Kusa ninja appeared behind her. Now the weird part about this was that she was holding a kunai...with her freakishly long tongue!

"Your kunai proctor-san," the Kusa Genin said, she was somehow able to talk normally even though her tongue was out.

"Why thank you," Anko said, "however you should be more careful on who you sneak up on,I might just kill you next time."

"My apologies, it's just that the sight of blood always makes me jumpy, not to mention you cut my hair with your kunai as well," the Kusa Genin said as she handed Anko the knife and backed away.

**"Kit, stay away from that one, her chakra is very disgusting. Not to mention she seems to have the reserves of one of your Elite Jounin,"** Kyuubi said. Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"Well it looks like we have some bloodthirsty ones this year," Anko commented as she jumped back to her previous spot. "Now then, for this part of the exam each team is going to receive either an Earth Scroll or a Heaven Scroll. You will need to collect both scrolls and reach the tower that is in the middle of the forest in order to pass."

"So half of the teams here will be passing then?" Naruto asked.

"That would be on a good day," Anko said. "Normally, less than half of the teams here pass this part because of either the conditions in the forest, or if they just have bad luck. Now an important rule is that nobody should open the scrolls before they reach the tower."

"What happens if we do?" Ino asked.

Anko grinned and said, "Now that would be telling. You're going to be in this forest for five days-"

"Five days!? What about food?!" Choji wailed.

Anko shot him a short glare fro interrupting her and said, "There are lots of animals and plants in the forest, just make sure that none of THEM try to eat YOU. Now then, once the five days are over, anyone still inside the forest will be retrieved by a group of Jounin that will be on standby, if you're still alive that is."

"Oh yes! I almost forgot, each one of you needs to sign these forms," Anko then held up a small stack of papers as her fellow proctors began to pass them out to the crowd of Genin.

"What are these?" Fuu asked.

"These are waivers that prevent Konoha from being responsible for your deaths, cause some of you are going to die in this portion," Anko explained. "You need to pass in all three in order for your team to retrieve their scroll."

Team 8 had signed their forms and went into the tent to receive their scroll. They were handed a Heaven Scroll and were about to leave when Anko appeared in front of them with a grin on her face.

"Is there anything you need Anko-san?" Shino asked.

"Just wanted to wish my favorite trio of brats good luck before they went in," Anko said. She then leaned in closer and said, "Be careful in there, there's a lot of tough competition this year."

"Don't worry Anko-san, we'll be alright," Hinata reassured her. Anko nodded and let the team pass.

_'Those kids have grown on me,'_ Anko thought. _'Maybe I'm turning soft.'_

Anko shook her head and walked back to the small booth that contained the intercom system. She sat down as she waited for the word that all the teams were ready.

* * *

"How are we going to find the Uzumaki?" Hamaguri asked.

"I say we just follow the smell of ramen, the Uzumaki were popular in ramen stands around the world," Mekajiki replied, earning him a smack in the head from his teammate.

"Last time I checked, neither one of us has the superior sense of smell an Inuzuka possesses," Hamaguri informed him.

Mekajiki snorted and said, "Then we'll just look for where the bugs gather, I think that one of his teammates is an Aburame."

"Good idea, and after we find him we'll just use our weapon to finish them off," Hamaguri added. Shujin looked at his teammates with a form of despair in his eyes.

_'Uzumaki-san, I hope you are able to defeat me,'_ he thought.

* * *

"So do we have a plan?" the dark skinned Kumo male asked.

"Yeah! Find any team we come across and beat them to a pulp!" the redhead shouted.

"But what if one of those teams contains the heir of a famous clan and we kill them? Then that clan may declare war on Kumo after receiving the backing of their village. And if that happens then we may accidentally start the Fourth Great Ninja War," the boy muttered.

"SHUT UP OMOI!" the redhead yelled as she slammed her fist into Omoi's head, making him fall to the floor in a heap.

The blond sighed at her team's antics and began to think if being born in Kumo was a curse.

* * *

"Do you remember our mission?" the mummified Oto ninja asked his teammates.

The spiky haired one grinned and said, "Yep, go in there and kill the Uchiha."

"Just make sure that you don't mess up you baka," the female said as she cleaned her nails with a senbon.

"What did you say bitch!?" the boy snarled as he took a step forward.

"That's enough," the mummy ordered as he grabbed his teammates arm. "Killing each other will only cause us to fail the mission." the boy and girl glared at each other before huffing and turning away.

* * *

"You two know what to do right?" the Kusa Genin with the long tongue asked her teammates.

"Yes," her teamates replied.

* * *

"Man, I hope we only run into one team," Shikamaru sighed. "Fighting two of them would be so troublesome."

"Quit being a lazy ass!" Ino scolded. "I just hope we run into Sasuke-kun's team so I can show him that I'm stronger than Billboard Brow."

"Is that Uchiha the only thing on your mind?" Shikamaru asked as he shook his head.

"Ino, are you sure that getting Sasuke's attention is worth it?" Choji asked. "Don't you remember how he acted in the Academy?"

Ino huffed and said, "He was going through a tough time, with his brother killing his clan and everything."

"Naruto goes through a tough time too," Shikamaru said. "Sure he may have people who cares about him, but I once watched him as he went home and saw how his mood darkened when he went into his empty appartment."

"Why were you watching him?" Choji asked.

"He seemed a little off that day, so I decided to follow him," Shikamaru explained. "It was when I got home that I realized something, it was Mother's Day. One of the many holidays that Naruto never celebrates."

Ino and Choji were silent at that, not knowing what to say.

* * *

"I hope we run into a youthful opponent inside this forest!" Lee said as he performed one-handed pushups while waiting for the exam to begin.

"I just hope that whoever we run into just gives us the scroll," Tenten muttered as she sharpened a kunai on a nearby rock.

"But Tenten, then we would not be able to show of our youthfulness!" Lee complained.

Neji huffed and turned away. "It doesn't matter who we face, fate will decree us as the winners."

Tenten just sighed in exasperation. Why couldn't she have been placed on a normal team?

* * *

"Think we're gonna run into anybody tough in there boy?" Kiba asked Akamaru. The white dog just barked his answer.

"CHA! Nobody's stronger than Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.

Kiba just rolled his eyes and asked, "Then what about Kakashi-sensei, or the Hokage? Or how about your not-so-secret admirer who has a love of green?"

"Never mention that creep in my presence again!" Sakura growled.

"Just make sure you two losers stay out of my way," Sasuke ordered.

"Hey! Who died and made you dictator?" Kiba shouted.

"Shut up dog breath! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura screeched as she went to smash her fist into Kiba's head. In another universe where Kiba was replaced by Naruto who wasn't smart, she may have landed that hit. But because it wasn't that universe, Kiba just moved out of the way as the fist passed him completely.

"Whatever, just don't lead us into fighting that Gaara guy," Kiba snorted as he turned away.

* * *

"What are the odds we'll run into a giant snake?" Kankuro asked.

"Get real, the only one who can summon giant snakes is Orochimaru of the Sannin," Temari informed him, "and he's over in his new village of Otogakure."

"Well haven't you heard the story of how this forest was made?" Kankuro asked. "They said that the negative energy the Shodaime Hokage used changed the animals inside. I'm just guessing as to how they changed."

"It doesn't matter who or what we encounter," Gaara said. "I will prove my existence inside this place." His siblings just paled slightly and kept to a safe distance from their younger brother.

* * *

"I wonder what kind of heart I'll get next?" Naruto wondered.

"If you are looking for a new one, you would most likely capture a lightning one due to wind elements being a rarity," Shino told him.

Naruto grinned and said, "That sounds good, I want to get a lightning heart so I could get Kakashi-sensei to teach me that lightning Jutsu I saw him use one time. He said that you would need the Sharingan to properly use it."

"Why would it require the Sharingan?" Hinata asked.

"I think he said somethin about tunnel vision or something like that," Naruto told her. "I didn't really understand it."

"Maybe he'll explain it once you get a lightning heart," Hinata suggested. Naruto nodded and faced the gate as he awaited it to open.

"What do we do if we run into that strange Kusa ninja? My insects would not even go near her because of how dark her chakra is," Shino asked.

"We should stay away from her, I checked her out with my eyes and couldn't stand the sight of her chakra," Naruto said. "Her chakra looked so...cold. Brrr!"

"I beleive that it is good fortune that her team is on the other side of the forest," Shino said, Hinata nodding in agreement.

_"Alright maggots and maggets,"_ Anko's voice crackled over the loudspeaker, _"It's time to get the Second Exam underway! But before we begin, I have one last piece of advice for all of you."_

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

_"Don't die!"_

The gates opened and every single team raced into the forest. Anko grinned and sat down while pulling out a large box of dango. She popped one in to her mouth and kept her ears open for any screams of terror or pain.

* * *

(Inside the Forest)

Naruto, Hinata, and Shino raced forward and landed on a tree branch.

"Hold on a minute," Naruto said. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto slammed his hand down and summoned a small fox with one tail and green markings over her orange fur.

"Greetings Naruto-sama, I am Sacha, a hunter fox, is there anything you need?" Sacha asked.

"Yeah, I need you to keep an eye out for the original owner of this card," Naruto said as he pulled out one of Kabuto's ninja cards that he swiped when nobody was looking. "He's a teenager wearing a purple outfit and has glasses. Oh, and he has a Konoha headband on him too."

"Of course, anything else?" Sacha asked as she took a good whiff of the scent on the card.

"Yeah, meet us at the tower in the middle of the forest, that's where everyone who passes this exam will be at," Naruto told her. Sacha nodded and raced off into the foliage.

"Why are you concerned about Kabuto-san, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"He knew about my Jiongu, nobody is supposed to know about it," Naruto said. "Baa-chan has never put it on my medical records either."

"No offense Hinata, but perhaps Hanabi-san talked about it outside of your compound," Shino suggested.

Hinata shook her head. "Not possible, she made a pinkie promise, and Hanabi-chan has never broken a pinkie promise," Hinata told him.

"I see, then we should be extra wary of him," Shino said.

"Yeah, now let's go and see if we can find a team," Naruto said as he prepared to jump. But the minute he crouched down, Hinata grabbed his arm.

"Naruto-kun, did you forget about something?" Hinata asked.

"Uh, no. Why?" he asked. Shino just shook his head and pointed at Hinata's eyes. A lightbulb lit up in the blonds head.

**"Ahhh! My eyes!"** Kyuubi cried as the light blinded him.

"Oh yeah! Hinata-chan can just use her Byakugan to see if there are any teams nearby!" Naruto realized.

Hinata then activated her Doujutsu and took a good look around. At the edge of her vision she could see a team of Kumo ninjas stalking a team from Suna that didn't have Gaara. On the other side of her vision she could see a team of Ame ninjas that were heading in their direction.

"There's a team from Ame coming this way," Hinata told her team.

"This is the perfect place to set up a trap," Shino said as he sent out a few bugs.

"What makes you so sure?" Naruto asked. Shino just pointed upwards and his friends directed their gazes there as well, their eyes widening when they saw what was above them.

"Are those what I think they are?" Naruto asked. Shino nodded, making the blong Genin grin while he pulled his teammates in close to make a plan.

A few minutes later, the three Ame Genin appeared in the clearing.

"Where are they?" One of them asked. "I thought you said that they were here."

"They ARE here, I can sense their chakra in this area," the other one said. The next thing they knew, large leeches droped down from the canopy above and began to suck on their chakra. The three Ame Genin cried out and struggled to get them off, but couldn't get them off. Eventually they fell unconscious and the leeched slowly inched their way off.

"That was quick," Naruto commented as he and his teammates walked out of the foliage.

"These leeches absorb most of the chakra of their victims, only leaving a miniscule amount left before they detach and search for their next meal," Shino explained as he began to search the Ame ninja for their scroll.

"It's another Heaven Scroll," Hinata sighed as she pulled out a scroll from the one she searched.

"Let's take it in case we have to bargin for our freedom if we are captured," Shino suggested. Naruto and Hinata nodded and she pocketed the scroll before they started leaping from branch to branch again.

* * *

(Outside)

Anko was doing two of her favorite pastimes, eating dango and listening to screams of pain and terror. As she was relishing in the screams of another group of Genin that had fallen pray to something, a Chunin dropped down next to her.

"Excuse me Anko-san, but there's something that you should see," the Chunin said.

Anko sighed and pocketed her dango. "Alright, let's go." The Chunin then lead Anko a half mile out to a small gathering of Chunin and Jounin.

"What's up?" Anko said as she dropped down.

"We found three bodies here, all of them were Kusa Genin," a Jounin told her.

"And? That's not much to make a fuss about," Anko said in an uncaring attitude. "All we have to do is claim that they were inside the Forest when they died."

"That would work, if this wasn't wrong with them," the Jounin said as he stepped away so Anko could get a look at the bodies. Anko gasped when she saw that they were all missing their faces, like someone just ripped them off.

_'There's no mistake,'_ Anko thought as she gripped her left shoulder, _'this is HIS Justsu.' _Anko then whirled around and said the the Chunin and Jounin, "Go to the Hokage and tell him that the snake stalks the birds nest!"

Once they all left, Anko then leapt towards the Forest of Death, thoughts of rage circling through her mind.

* * *

(With Team 8)

Our favorite trio of Genin dashed through the forest cautiously, not wanting to fall into another team's trap.

"Man, it's been an hour and we haven't seen ANYONE!" Naruto whined. The next thing he knew, Hinata had bashed him on the head with her bow.

"Do you want everyone to know where we are?" Hinata asked as she gave him a small glare.

"No ma'am," Naruto mumbled as he hung his head. Inside his cage, the Kyuubi was rolling on the floor in laughter.

**"Whtssh,"** Kyuubi made a whipping motion with his tail while shaking with laughter.

_'Shut up! We're not even dating!'_ Naruto yelled.

**"Even though you're hoping to do so," **Kyuubi pointed out with a large grin on his face.

_'I-I have no idea what you're talking about!'_ Naruto stuttered. The next thing he knew, his head was filled with images of him and Hinata dating, kissing, and dancing, along with them doing...other things.

"Gah!" Naruto was distracted so much that he missed then next branch and landed head-first onto the ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried as she and Shino leapt down to him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"N-nothing, I just missed the branch," Naruto lied, not being able to look at Hinata without blushing heavily. Hinata raised an eyebrow at his actions but shook her head.

Suddenly, a loud scream reached their ears, and the trio of friends realized that it came from close by.

"We should go check it out!" Naruto said as he leapt to his feet.

"But what if it's a trap?" Shino asked.

"Hold on a minute, let me check," Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan.

Her vision became more pronounced and changed into 360 degree vision. Pushing some more chakra into her eyes, Hinata was able to see farther than normal, the farthest she could see was about 50 meters, but she was able to see a little father every day she trained.

Looking around, she could see a female Kusa Genin that was being attacked by a wild boar, the only problem was that the Genin seemed to be out of weapons and had a sprained ankle. Another thing that Hinata noted was that she had red hair that was similar to Kushina and Natsumi.

"There's a Kusa Genin about 20 meters from here and is being attacked by a wild boar, she's injured and it doesn't look like her teammates are around," Hinata said.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go help!" Naruto said.

"Is it wise? For all we know it could be a trap," Shino said. Hinata shook her head and told him that there was nothing suspicious in the area. So without further arguments, the trio leapt into the trees. They came upon the Kusa kunoichi and saw that she was backed against a tree while clutching a scroll as a large boar stalked towards her.

Having seen enough, Naruto leapt into the air and shot out his threads, stabbing the boar through its body and pinning it to the ground. As soon as he landed, Hinata fired an arrow and pierced the boar through its forehead, killing it instantly.

"Yo," Naruto greeted as he turned around and faced the redhead, Hinata and Shino jumping down next to him.

"Take the scroll! Just don't hurt me!" the girl cried as she thrusted her scroll forward.

Seeing the scroll, Shino sighed. "We have no need of your scroll, even if we did, it wouldn't help us."

"Damn it! Why do we keep finding Heaven Scrolls?!" Naruto yelled, causing a flock of birds to fly away from the forest. He then took a deep breath to calm himself. "Sorry about that, I'm just a little frustrated."

**"That's putting it lightly,"** Kyuubi muttered. Naruto just ignored him and turned his attention back to the girl.

"So what's your name?" Naruto asked.

"I'm Karin," she answered.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"My name's Hinata Hyuga."

"Shino Aburame."

"U-Uzumaki? But I thought that they were all dead?" Karin wondered.

"Nope, there's a small number of us here in Konoha," Naruto told her.

"Then...I'm not alone?" Karin asked.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"Well, my Kaa-chan told me that we came from a powerful clan," Karin began, "one that came from an area between Konoha and Kiri. I lived with her and my nee-chan in Kusa before we were separated. All I know is that Kaa-chan died and that my sister is somewhere."

**"I KNEW IT!"** Kyuubi cried in triumph.

_'What the Hell are you talking about?!'_ Naruto roared back.

**"This girl is an Uzumaki! The red hair is proof!"** Kyuubi told him.

_'Just because she has red hair doesn't mean that she's an Uzumaki,'_ Naruto told him.

**"True, but she has this particular shade of red that all Uzumaki possess. Nobody else has it,"** the Bijuu informed him. Naruto them took a good look at Karin's hair and realized that it was the exact same type of red that Kushina and Natsumi had.

"You are an Uzumaki," Naruto stated.

"How can you tell?" Shino asked.

"Kaa-chan told me that the Uzumaki Clan possess a certain type of red hair," Naruto began. "I'm not a red head because my father's genes are apparent'y stronger than hers. But back to the main topic, Karin here has the Uzumaki shade of red hair."

"Too bad it doesn't help me back in Kusa," Karin muttered as she rubbed her ankle. Seeing their confusion, she elaborated. "I'm not really liked in Kusa, people don't really like me and they treat me like a tool because of my advanced sensory abilities."

"How about you join Konoha?" Naruto suggested.

"I'll become a Nukenin then!" Karin shouted.

"Not really," Shino said, "you're inside the Forest of Death in a survival test. Kusa will most likely think that you and your team perished inside here and they will eventually forget about you, allowing you to live a life here without fear of being discovered."

"That actually sounds like a good idea!" Naruto said with a large grin.

"Wait a minute!" Hinata shouted. "What about your team?"

"Those bastards died against some Suna guy," Karin said, "I told them that he was too strong for them."

"So they ran into Gaara..." Naruto muttered.

"You know that guy?!" Karin screamed.

"We met before the exams started," Naruto explained. "He said that 'mother' would enjoy my blood, whatever that means."

"We should move out now, we're still in need of a scroll," Shino said.

"Right, so you ready to go?" Naruto asked his relative.

Karin sent him a glare and said, "In case you haven't noticed, my ankle's sprained!" Naruto shrunk under her glare and Hinata went to healing Karin. She activated her Byakugan and struck several points on the ankle to help heal it.

"What are you doing?" Karin asked.

"There are tenketsu on the body that speed up the healing process," Hinata explained. "I'm striking those tenketsu so that your ankle will heal faster." **(1)**

After a few minutes, Karin's ankle was better, a little sore, but now she was able to travel without any problems.

"Okay, let's go," Naruto said as he and his friends jumped into the trees.

They were traveling for about 10 minutes when an ominous aura covered the forest.

"What is that?" Hinata asked, shivering a bit.

"I don't know, but it's making my insects very uncomfortable," Shino said. It was true, his insects were buzzing at an alarming rate.

"Let me check it out," Karin said as she made a few hand seals and closed her eyes. They then shot open and had a panicked look in them. "There's a large amount of chakra being released, and there's a dark look to it!"

**"It's the Kusa ninja,"** Kyuubi said.

Naruto mentally nodded and said, "Alright, let's head away from there and try to find another team. But before he could say anything else, Naruto was forced to dodge as a blast of water impacted where he once was.

"Damn, I missed," Mekajiki cursed as he and his team appeared.

"I told you you should have aimed it more to the left," Hamaguri reprimanded him.

"I'm guessing that you're here for our scroll?" Shino asked as he stared at the two Kiri ninja.

Hamaguri smirked and said, "The scroll's just the bonus, what we're here for is the death of the Uzumaki." Team 8's eyes widened at this revelation and they immediately took a defensive formation, Karin taking her own form of combat.

"We're going to finish what our ancestors couldn't finish all those years ago!" Mekajiki shouted.

"Just try, you'll be dead before you even realize it," Naruto said as his eyes hardened.

Hamaguri then took a good look at Naruto before something clicked in his head. "Hey, doesn't he look like the Yondaime Hokage?"

Mejakiki tilted his head a little and said, "You're right! Take away those scars on his face and he would look just like him!" Naturally, this little tidbit of information sent Team 8's heads for a spin.

**"I! SHOULD! HAVE! KNOWN!"** Kyuubi roared as he banged his head against the steel bars of the cage.

_'Now that they mention it, Naruto does resemble the Yondaime in some way,'_ Shino thought. _'Could it be possible that he's his son?'_

_'I never really noticed, but it could be possible that Naruto-kun's related to the Yondaime in some way,'_ Hinata thought.

_'The Yondaime never had a son, didn't he and his family die during the Kyuubi Attack?'_ Karin said to herself.

_'C-could it be possible? Is my dad really the Yondaime?'_ Naruto thought. _'But...why would he do this to me?'_

**"Are you regretting me being here already?"** Kyuubi asked, a small pang of hurt in his voice.

_'No, I'm just shocked at this,'_ Naruto thought. _'I'll have to talk to Kaa-chan and Jiji when this is over.'_

"Hey, we could send his head to Iwa and get a ton of money for this!" Mekajiki realized. Hamaguri grinned and began to imagine himself swimming in a large pool of money.

"And we could sell the Hyuga girl to Kumo, then we'll be set for life!" Hamaguri said with a large smirk.

Shujin was quiet the whole time. _'If he's really related to the Yondaime, then he would have a great knowledge of seals, maybe I can truly be free. But it looks like he doesn't even know, so it looks my hopes haven't been answered.'_

He then looked up and sent a silent prayer. _'Dear Kami, I only ask you one thing. If I die here, make sure that my otouto is able to live in a place where he will find happiness.'_

"Enough talk! Let's kill them and get rich!" Hamaguri shouted as he jumped forward and pulled out his tanto, aiming it at Naruto's head. Naruto quickly raised his claw and caught the blade before he was pushed back when Hamaguri kicked him in the chest. Team 8 and jumped back, with Karin jumping after Hinata.

"I'll go after the Aburame," Mekajiki said as he jumped down.

"I'll take the kunoichi," Hamaguri said with a lust-filled grin on his face.

Mekajiki groaned and said, "Make sure you think with your upper head this time."

"Don't worry, I'll save one for you," his teammate said as he laughed. "And you, worthless scum, will be taking the Uzumaki." Shujin nodded and the Kiri Genin leapt after their targets.

* * *

(Shino vs. Mekajiki)

Shino cursed as he landed, he was forced away from his teammates and had no idea where they were. What was worse was that he had no idea what these Kiri Genin were capable of aside from their weapons.

Mekajiki suddenly landed across from him with a smirk on his face. He took out his kusarigama and began to twirl the chain that had the weight on the end.

"An Aburame, and the heir no less, this should be interesting," the Kiri Genin said as he took a step forward, he then jumped back as a small swarm of insects shot towards him, he freed his hands and began to make seals.

"Suiton: Teppoudama!" Mekajiki cried as he shot small spheres of water at the insects, forcing them to scatter, less they be drowned.

Shino frowned and pulled out his swords before he rushed the Krir Genin and slashing at him with one of the blades. Mekajiki blocked the strike with the chain before he jumped back to avoid Shino's second strike. Shino then thrusted a sword forward and scratched Mekajiki's side.

"Interesting, I've always heard that the Aburame were ones who fight from afar," Mekajiki commented as he sent the weight at Shino.

"I decided to become unique and try something that only a small few in my clan have done," Shino explained as he dodged the attack and went to slash his opponent's chest. The Kiri ninja jumped back, but still received a small cut on his clothes.

Mekajiki swung his kusarigama like a lasso and sent it flying towards Shino. He ducked underneath it and rolled to the side when his opponent pulled on the chain, forcing the blade to come back to him. Shino then raced forward and threw a punch at his opponent, who blocked it with his forearm. Mekajiki jumped back while firing a Teppoudama at Shino, preventing him from following.

"Well I suppose it's time to end this," Mekajiki said as he prepared to throw the weight towards Shino.

"You're right," Shino said as he sheathed his katanas, "this battle's over."

"Giving up alr-" Mekajiki was cut off as he suddenly felt tired. Sensing an itching sensation on his legs, he looked down and saw that his legs were covered by insects.

"How...?" Mekajiki gasped as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"When you blocked my punch before, I planted a female insect on you," Shino explained. "She released a scent that only her male counterparts could detect. I had them burrow through the ground and crawl up your legs to drain your chakra when you jumped back."

"To think that I've been bested by a bloodline scum..." Mekajiki groaned as he fell to the floor in a heap. Shino let out a sigh of relief and jumped away to find his friends.

* * *

(Hinata and Karin vs. Hamaguri)

The unnaturally haired girls jumped back at their opponent slammed onto the ground where they were, his sword stuck into the ground.

"Hehehe, I get two lovely ladies all to myself," Hamaguri chuckled as his eyes roamed over the two females bodies. He picked up his sword and ran his hand along the metal.

Hinata repressed the urge to shiver as she saw his eyes land on her developed chest. Only one person was able to stare at her like that, even if he didn't, as far as she knew. She dashed forward and went for the traditional Jyuuken strike to the chest. Hamaguri dodged it and went to slash at her with his sword. Hinata jumped back, but part of her jacket was cut, revealing the deep purple shirt underneath.

"A shame that you've got a bloodline, you would have actually been someone I would consider having my way with," Hamaguri sighed as he made several hand seals. "Suiton: Hahonryu!" Hamaguri spat out a sphere of water into his hand and threw it at Hinata and Karin. They jumped away as it shot through the trees behind them.

"Hakke Kuushou!" Hinata shouted as she sent a blast of condensed air at Hamaguri, who was caught off guard and sent back into the trees. Hinata prepared to activate her Byakugan when Karin stopped her.

"Save your chakra, my sensing abilities will find him," she said. Hinata nodded and loaded an arrow into her bow before waiting for Karin to find the Kiri Genin.

"There!" Karin pointed in the foliage. Hinata quickly aimed and let the arrow fly through the air and hit Hamaguri, who let out a cry of pain. Hinata then jumped into the air and let loose another arrow. Hamaguri jumped out of the tree, revealing that he had a an arrow imbedded in his shoulder.

"Bloodline whore!" Hamaguri snarled as he slashed at her with his sword. Hinata dodged the slashes and tried to find an opening. On one particular swing, Hamaguri threw too much of his weight forward and lost his balance. Hinata capitalized on this and landed several strikes on him, closing several of his tenketsu before he jumped back and tried to get back some feeling in his arm.

"You're lucky we want some money from Kumo, if I had any say in this you would be dead after I break you!" Hamaguri growled as he got a crazed look in his eyes. He then had to jump back to avoid the kunai thrown by Karin.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" Hamaguri roared as he let a large blast of water loose. Hinata grabbed Karin and jumped away. Hinata then let another arrow fly and watched as it impacted against Hamaguri's thigh. He howled in pain, especially since this one was charged with chakra and closed the surrounding tentetsu. Hamaguri stumbled to the grou d and Hinata dashed forward, closing the tenketsu on his legs and arms. The two girls watched as Hamaguri fell onto the floor in a crumpled heap.

"Come on, we have to help Naruto-kun and Shino-kun," Hinata said. Karin nodded and prepared to leave.

"Suiton: Water Binding Jutsu!" Hamaguri shouted as he slammed his working hand onto the ground. **(2)** The next thing the girls knew, their legs were entrapped by water, preventing them from moving. Hinata couldn't turn around to fire a Hakke Kuushou at him, unless she could turn her upper body completely around.

"Don't think...that you've won...just yet you freak," Hamaguri said as he weakly pulled himself to his feet. He then picked up his sword and slowly walked towards Hinata. "I'll take care of you first, then I'll be able to have fun with the attractive one." **(3)** Hamaguri said as he prepared to drive his tanto into Hinata's right arm.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata screamed, hoping that her love could save her.

* * *

(Naruto vs. Shujin)

Naruto landed on the ground in a crouch and let out a snarl of frustration. He was being targeted again, except this time it wasn't for him being the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. He looked up as the cloaked Kiri Genin landed on a branch above him.

"I'm sorry," Shujin said as he kept his head down.

Naturally, this confused Naruto. "For what?" he asked.

"For having to fight you, if I had a will of my own, I would have never been here," Shujin answered.

"What do you mean if you had a will of your own?" Naruto asked. Kyuubi listened in, slightly interested in what was happening.

"Have you heard about the bloodline purges in Kiri?" Shujin asked. "I'm one who possesses a bloodline, and they decided to test out a seal on me that would make me their weapon. It makes me a prisoner of my own body."

Naruto growled, angry that anyone could be treated like that.

"Can the seal be removed?" Naruto asked.

Shujin shook his head. "Not unless you are a true master of Fuuinjutsu, it's so intertwined with my body that any attempt to remove it would literally rip me apart. I heard the sealers say that it was based on the little knowledge they had of the Hyuga's Caged Bird Seal." This made Naruto scowl, seeing that the Hyuga's seal was causing even more pain, even if they didn't know it.

"Before we fight, I would like to know your name," Naruto said as he crouched down low and held his claws out.

Shujin reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing his slightly pale skin and black hair that had a little white in it. He had dark green eyes and two red dots on his forehead.

"My true name has been forgotten, all I have is the name my enslavers gave me. I am Shjin, Shujin Kaguya."

Shujin then pulled off his robe as it hung around his waist. He reached up to his shoulder and gripped it tightly before he began to pull on it. Naruto's eyes widened as he watched his opponent pull out a bone that was shaped like a sword. But what really caught his attention was the seal on the middle of his chest where it had the kanji for control in a sickly yellow color.

"This is the Kekkei Genkai of the Kaguya Clan, the Shikotsumyaku," Shujin said as he leapt forward and aimed his sword at Naruto. The young blond shook himself back to reality and moved to the side. Shujin's sword stuck itself into the ground, but he used it as a handstand to send a kick that landed on Naruto's chest.

Naruto flipped in the air and landed on his feet, he looked up to see Shujin right on top of him with his sword ready to stab him in the gut. Naruto quickly spun around and the sword passed right by him while he backhanded him away.

"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he breathed out a large fireball at the Kiri Genin. Shujin jumped over the flames and threw his sword at Naruto. He caught it with his gauntlet and jumped back as Shujin landed where he was with several bones popping out of his fist.

"You're good," Naruto said as he undid the belt of his coat and activated his Sharingan, keeping it under a small Genjutsu.

"Thank you, it has been a long time since I've been complimented for my prowess in battle," Shujin told him as he pulled out two bones from his shoulder. He then dashed forward and went for an X slash. Naruto jumped back and expertly threw his tranchcoat off where it landed on a branch. One of Crab's claws shot out of Naruto's back and gripped Shujin's arm. Naruto then whirled around and had the claw release Shujin as it threw him into a tree.

Shujin got up and raced to Naruto as curved bones sprouted from his arms. He began to twirl around like a top and Naruto made some quick seals and slammed his hands on the ground, bringing up an wall of earth to try and block him. Shujin was momentarily stopped by the wall before he vaulted over it and made a downward slash against Naruto. The blond Jinchuriki backflipped away while Crab's mask opened its mouth and fired a blast of water. Shujin dove to the side and avoided the attack.

"I must say, your powers are very interesting," Shujin said. "I have never seen anything like it."

"As far as I know, I'm the second one with this, the other one having it during the time of the Shodaime Hokage," Naruto told him. He then put his hands into the Tora seal. "Jiongu: Activate!" All three of his masks shot out of his back and landed around him. Shujin was surprised and couldn't avoid Titan as he landed a rock-hard fist into Shujin's gut, sending him into a tree. The Kaguya pulled himself out and got back to his feet.

"Go!" Naruto commanded as Fox dashed forward and head butted Shujin back into the tree. Titan then jumped into the air and dove down to slam his fist into the Kaguya, who managed to get out of the way. But before he could do anything, he was forced to duck down as Crab shot out a barrage of Teppoudama's from his claws. Shujin danced through the watery bullets and was about to attack the Water Heart when he had to jump away from the Fire Bullets that impacted the area he was previously occupying.

"Amazing, I've never had this much fun when I was sparring back in Kiri," Shujin said as he watched Naruto and his hearts.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata's scream rang out through the surrounding area. Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly turned to see Hinata about to lose her arm to Hamaguri. In a burst of speed, Naruto channeled the Kyuubi's chakra and raced over there.

Hinata closed her eyes in fear, but then she felt herself being roughly shoved to the side. She looked over and saw Naruto standing where she was trapped. She looked on in horror and couldn't utter a word as she saw the sword descend.

Naruto looked at Hinata, thankful that his best friend was safe. He then looked at the sword as it descended. It didn't help that his Sharingan showed that it would probably kill him. He knew that he wouldn't really die, just lose a heart and get revived, but the thought of dying installed a good amount of fear into his mind. Unconsciously, he channeled more chakra into his Sharingan, and his vision became extremely clear and he unconsciously did something that made his whole body feel funny. He also felt himself shout out the name of whatever he was doing.

"KAMUI!"

* * *

**Wow! What a long chapter! I didn't think that I would finish this one with all of my schoolwork.**

**So now that this chapter's done, I have something to say about the manga:**

**I**

**FREAKING**

**CALLED IT!**

**I KNEW that Kishimoto would make Sasuke evil again! Was it too much to ask for him to leave it with Kaguya and have Hagoromo free everyone already!? No! He had to pull that d #$ move and make Sasuke the bad guy once more!**

**Okay, I'm calm now. So we're almost done with the second exam, just have to wrap up the fight with the Kiri team and get Team 8 to the tower. After that it's time for the Preliminaries. Just PLEASE don't request any of the match ups, I've already got some of them in mind and I don't want to have people ranting and raving that I didn't follow their suggestions.**

**One last thing before I go, I'm putting up a poll for what Naruto story to rite next. I'll start writing it after the Invasion so this one will be on a little break after I finish the Invasion. It's also a blind poll so that you'll all be surprised.**

**I know that I said that I would write Dark, But Not Evil after the Invasion, but I came up with two new ideas and I couldn't help but do this.**

**Please Review, Ciao!**


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